Meatless Monday {2019 – week 47}

So here we are: 2019 week 47 of Meatless Monday… 

Here’s what we wore:

Me: Long Sleeve top= White Stuff (thrifted) Tights = Tescos, Stripe Skirt = Thrifted, Cardigan = Tescos, Boots = John Lewis.

Boys: Tops & Jeans =  various 2nd hand sources, including Facebook Selling and Charity Shops, Rocket Shoes George at ASDA (first walkers), Vests = Tescos, Zip up Jackets = George at ASDA

What’s in my ears:

Awaken, discover and connect to the deeper meaning of the world around you with SuperSoul. Hear Oprah’s personal selection of her interviews with thought-leaders, best-selling authors, spiritual luminaries, as well as health and wellness experts. All designed to light you up, guide you through life’s big questions and help bring you one step closer to your best self.

I’ve always found Lady Gaga interesting as a personality so I was interested to listen to this podcast, and it didn’t disappoint, definitely worth a listen 🙂

Grammy and Oscar winner Lady Gaga talks about the lessons she’s learned as an international pop star, actress and cultural icon. Lady Gaga shares intimate details on how and why she created her famous persona. She also talks about her personal traumas, her daily rituals of mental and physical wellness and how she learned it’s her life’s purpose to help heal the world through kindness. Lady Gaga also discusses why she recently became an entrepreneur, creating Haus Laboratories, her brand-new beauty company.

My personal favourite quote from the episode is:

Take little bites of empowerment everyday, little bites of bravery and of courage, little bites of kindness, whether it be for yourself or someone else. I actually find, interestingly enough, if I am having a tough day mentally, I find that it helps me to help someone else, so instead of worrying about all the things which are going on in my mind, I reach out to someone else and see how they’re doing, and it takes me out of me and it puts me in a mode of kindness. And then I look at myself and say; “oh, you just helped someone, you did a good thing today” and then I feel a bit more brave.

Lady Gaga

What a beautiful thing is that! Such wise words and definitely advice which I am going to take forward.

Here’s my week in 4:

1. Nursery Stay and Play Sessions: And so it begins, my babies are growing up, they’re 3 at the end of next week and starting pre-school in January! So this week we started our stay and play sessions at their new nursery and they did so so well. I know that it’s going to be great for them and me once we get settled into our new routine, but it’s always a bit nerve wracking starting something new, is anyone else going through this one? I’d love to hear your thoughts and strategies if so…
2. Christmas Tree Decorated: I did manage to use my time wisely whilst the boys were at their stay and play, I decorated the Christmas Tree, and in record timing. I just love how cosy and Christmasy the house is now. It is such a happy, if manic, time of the year.
3. Imagine if you were 75: Repost from a friend of mine this week which I thought was too poignant not to share with you. Every woman needs to read this and stop being so damn hard on herself and just go and live right now.
4. Yoga Retreat to end the week: My cup 🥤 is very much full after a fabulous restorative yoga 🧘🏼‍♀️ retreat at the Granary with Shirley. Just what my body and soul needed before the Christmas and birthday haze of the coming weeks truly commences. Its so important to carve out some time for self care and restoration. I’m a huge believer that you cannot feed from an empty cup. I am so grateful for this time. And I learnt a wonderful new mudra which represents openheartedness and looks like a flower 💕🧘🏼‍♀️🙏🏼❤️ Don’t forget to shine ☀ the world needs your light. Namaste.

What we ate this week…

Breakfast:

I had a cup of fresh leaf tea, I have been trying to cut out one tea bag a day and substitute with fresh leaf in a diffuser since finding out that most tea bags have plastic in them! – when will it end!

Then the boys had their milk and I had my granola and fresh berries. And the boys had apricot wheats and sultanas to take to their Grandparents.

Lunch:

This week I decided to try something new for salad leaves, as the bags just weren’t lasting the week from the supermarket shop and + pre-prepared salad isn’t exactly the best environmental option either. So I bought one whole cabbage and one lettuce to use in this week’s lunches. I have to say they did last much better than bagged salad and it was more cost effective too, so win win all round really. I am going to try a bunch of different lettuces I think before deciding which one is better, next week I think I’m going to try little gems, so will let you know how I get on.

The boys had a cheese and salad bagel with a pear, a clementine and an apple to snack on throughout the day. I had these delicious Thomas Fudge’s Chickpea & Sesame Flatbreads spread with Seriously Spreadable Original Cheese Spread and salad with a pack of snack-a-jacks , 2 clementines and a caramel bar to snack on throughout the day.

Dinner:

The boys had their favourite, beans, and toast and clementine and birthday cake from the party we’d been to the previous day. And I had some cashews and smoked almonds to keep me going whilst dinner cooked, then a leftover portion of my fave mushroom and sundried tomato pasta, followed by a new fave ice cream from Morrisons – Black Forest – with some fresh blueberries. – yum! To drink I had this lovely Morrisons The Best Raspberry Mojito Mocktail, which they have happily just launched for Christmas and a cup of Rooibos tea before bed.

Please check out my Pinterest meatless inspiration board: #MeatlessMonday to gather some pinspiration:

Along with the official Meatless Monday board which I am also now sharing on:

Find out how I got onto Meatless Mondays in the first place by watching this video:

And check out #meatlessmondays on this blog to see all my Meatless Monday posts and recipes. Hope you have a lovely week. 🙂

Go on, Pin it!

New little spot for recipes which I have done before but then used the leftovers to eat this week so you don’t have to go hunting around for them :)…

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Sun dried tomato and mushroom pasta in a garlic and herb sauce

Italian-style pasta made with easy ingredients. Mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes go exceptionally well together in this easy creamy pasta dish.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• a pack of mushrooms
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1/2 jar sun-dried tomatoes diced
• 2 heaped teaspoons of Marigold Swiss Veg Organic Bouillon or one veg stock cube dissolved in 2 cups of boiling water
• 150 ml single cream
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese shredded
• fresh herbs from the garden I used some marjoram, oregano, thyme and sage
• 500 g of Rigatoni Pasta or your pasta of choice

Instructions

1. Fill your pasta pan with cold water and place on the hob to bring to the boil

2. Heat olive oil on medium-high heat, in a pan which can accomodate the pasta later, add sliced mushrooms and garlic – and cook the vegetables for about 3 minutes. Add diced sun-dried tomatoes. Reduce heat.

3. Dissolve 2 heaped teaspoons of Marigold Swiss Veg Organic Bouillion in 2 cups of boiling water. Carefully add the broth to the wok – continue to cook the vegetables in the broth on medium heat until the mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes absorb some of the broth and the broth reduces by half. Add cream and bring to boil just for a short moment. Add Parmesan cheese and cook the sauce, stirring, for a couple of minutes, on low-medium heat until the cheese melts. Add the fresh herbs.

4. Cook your pasta for 10 for dried pasta and 3 minutes for fresh.

5. Drain your pasta and add to your wok and turn over in the sauce before serving and enjoying 🙂