A walk on the wild side!!

 

 

Today is a rest day ..... supposedly!!!  So my rest day meant I got a lie-in this morning, a whole hour, and was up at 6.30am to get to nature reserve RSPB Minsmere in Suffolk for a fabulous day of walking, nature and photography!  An absolutely gorgeous day with beautiful sunshine....and loads of walking, by the time we got home we were totally whacked!!

 

On the way home we stopped off at a fabulous farm shop where I purchased a whole heap of goodies for just over £30, would have all cost a lot more in a supermarket or health food store, it was like Christmas for me!

 

We started the day off with breakfast at the Reserve coffee shop, I just had a couple of slices of granary toast and a decaf cappucino.

We then did A LOT of walking, covering most of the reserve and further, taking lots and lots beautiful photographs.  We were surrounded by dragon flies, they were in abundance everywhere, practically dive bombing us at times.

 

Very beautiful, as were the butterflies...

 

We both love walking, and we both love nature and wildlife, and we both love photography, so this to us was a totally relaxing ideal day, absolute heaven.  The fact that a lot of exercise was thrown in was just a bonus! 

Walking is a fantastic exercise, for a start it is free!!  Regular walking helps reduce the risk of high blood pressure, raised levels of cholesterol, heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and some cancers, it is also a great all over body and cardio workout.

For best results you should maintain a 'brisk' walking tempo, meaning you will breathe a little faster than normal, feel warmer and your heart beats slightly faster, but you are still able to carry on a conversation.  Also, walking outside, in the fresh air and surrounded by natural beauty, is so restorative for the soul, reducing stress levels and enhancing mood.

For lunch we returned to the coffee shop, and I had a fabulous ham and cheese ploughmans salad.  Beautiful local carved ham, a wedge of local suffolk blue cheese, a doorstep of wholemeal bread and lots of lovely fresh salad.  I ate practically the whole lot, although hardly touched the bread as was very crumbly, and only half the cheese as as much as I love it, it was just too rich and too much.  But the birds around us enjoyed what was left!

 

We then walked that little lot off with another lot of walking till our legs could take no more!

 

The question when we got home was what to make with all the lovely fresh goodies I had bought from the farm shop. 

After a lot of umming and aahing I came up with a pesto chicken and vegetable crumble.

But after taking this pic, I decided to leave out the root veg!

So, I diced up the chicken and dry fried it in a hot pan until browned, then added a chopped onion and the yellow and green courgettes sliced and diced.  I chopped up some oyster mushrooms and broccoli (already in fridge) and added to the pan, then stirred in 2 teaspoons of pesto.  I had purchased a little pot of this, made by a Suffolk company called Purely Pesto.  They sell big pots too, but I would have stood and eaten it on its own with a spoon, it is so good, so was safer with a little pot!!  I let it all cook a little longer then added two tablespoons of fat free fromage frais and warmed it through.  I mixed up a teaspoon of cornflour with a dribble of cold water and added to the pan to thicken up the source.  I then ladled the mixture into two mini ovenproof dishes.

I then made a topping by mixing some oats with some wholemeal flour, mixed seeds and chopped up almonds and some chopped up sun blushed tomatoes.  I then drizzled into this some rapeseed oil, about 1.5 tablespoons, and mix it all together, along with a quick grating of parmesan cheese, then sprinkled it over the top of both dishes. 

Placed in an oven at about 180oC an cooked for approx 35-40 minutes until the crumble had browned and the sauce was bubbling underneath.

(pre-cooked)

 

(cooked)

 



Absolutely delicious, definitely recommend a savoury crumble!

 

 

I also managed to knock up my first ever homemade seeded wholemeal bread tonight , my first ever attempt at bread without a machine, for breakfast in the morning.  It is a huge success, but will tell you more about that tomorrow!!

Off to relax with my husband on the settee and watch a film now, Saturday night chilling at it's best!

Thanks again for reading
Jo
xx