SmarterFitter Daily

Probably my favourite way to enjoy veggie haggis is stuffed in a pepper or mushroom and topped with bbq sauce. 

After eating this meal, I feel like a potato wedge.

My favourite use of Carl Legge's vegetarian haggis thus far: stuffed in a portobello mushroom and topped with the Backyard BBQ Sauce from Veganomicon. Pretty awesome. 

Had this with sauteed leeks and curly kale (a favourite combo), avocado on the side, and a squeeze of lime juice. Oh, and lots of hot chillies. 

More on the haggis: Vegetarian Haggis for Burns Night

This is the Baked BBQ Tofu recipe from Veganomicon. I used the BBQ sauce recipe from Keith Floyd's Floyd on Fire (courtesy of Carl Legge), which was fine, but admittedly I've had better BBQ sauce. Floyd's sauce (sounds dirty!) was quite dark, sort of molasses-y; I like mine more tomato-y, for example, the Backyard BBQ Sauce in Veganomicon is great, as is Hank Shaw's Smoky Barbecue Sauce.

Sauce (and dirty jokes) aside, I loved this way of preparing the tofu and will definitely do it again. The leftovers are going to make killer sandwiches.

Breakfast: Strawberry and banana smoothie; sourdough toast with almond butter; coffee

Breakfast: Banana and strawberry smoothie, sourdough toast with almond butter, decaf coffee.

Lunch: Epic salad nicoise with "Fish 4 Ever" tuna and anchovies, leftover pink fir potatoes from yesterday, tomato, red onion, sundried tomato, olives, raw broccoli, leaves and french beans from the garden, balsamic vinaigrette.

Snack: Apple, yogurt, a few walnuts.

Dinner: Grilled tofu, pepper and onion kebabs with salsa cruda and more leftover pink firs, plus some salad leaves and avocado.

So August is here. Part of me thinks that these notions of kicking off a lifestyle change at the start of a new year, month, or season is completely arbitrary and pointless. But at the same time, I can't help but feel a sense of renewed motivation this month. It began well. I didn't drink on Sunday evening and had a terrific sleep. I went to the gym. I got a walk in. I ate well. I felt good. The only hitch was caffeine. I really made no intentions to quit caffeine (though I think about it occasionally). However, for lack of caffeinated coffee in the house, I stuck to decaf. I was fine all day but had a killer headache in the evening - so I went to bed with my book and a few ibuprofen.

The gym was good and the knee is coming along in leaps and bounds (okay, more like longish strides and faint hops). I did 20 minutes of walking on a very steep incline and didn't feel at all awkward or strained. I followed this with some bench presses, rows, deadlifts, crunches, and TRX bicep curls and chest presses. There are days when I go to the gym and I feel absolutely exhausted before I even get there. Today was not one of those days. It felt great.

I also got my daily walk in during the afternoon at lunch. It was sunny and hot today in England - glorious weather - and I decided on my stroll to have a bbq that evening. Something clean, whole and vegan. Tofu kebabs. I'm loving the salsa cruda we had at Sunday's cookery course, and I majorly scored by being given the leftovers. Tomatoillos, tomatoes, chilli, spring onion, coriander, lemon juice, a dash of sweetener. Delicious. It makes me want to do more with fresh salsas and sauces.