Eugh November, a time of Ill health but (some!) healthy comfort eating!

I have been battling a cold for two weeks now, as well as suffering earache-related headaches. I think I can blame my schizo lifestyle. From Monday to Thursday I tend to eat well (lots of healthy recipes and plenty of water) but come Thursday night it all goes out the window and the hard-partying Claire comes out to play. Cue lots of bacon, chocolate and beer! I'd say if I stuck to the unhealthiness I'd be better off to be honest! I think I'm shocking my body by suddenly changing from Cheetos and cheap cerveza to spinach, lentils and water on a regular basis!! But maybe my body will get used to the food aspect. I definitely need to cut down on the booze though. I have big plans in Barcelona this weekend but after that I'm gonna chill out a little and start focussing on my pre-Xmas healthiness (except for Saturdays obviously!).
Here are three recipes I've been enjoying recently. Personal fave is defo the chilli- shockingly low cal while being both filling and delicious. Also, a tip for the omlette- add bacon, pre-cooked and chopped up, at the end....yummm!! In fact I dont follow this recipe, more just use the ingredients and measurements as a guideline. I dont let the omlette set but, because I have a fear of gooey eggs, rather stir everything to make sure every piece gets equally well cooked. I also substitute cheddar for the parmesan, simply because I'm trying to finish up a block without resorting to cheese toasties!

Lentil and spinach soup:

White chilli

Potato and spinach omlette

What are your Winter warmer recipes

Hellooooo! So I thought I'd recommence with some photos. This is what I've been up to for the last year...

Black widow and Dorothy at my sister's Halloween party.

I took part in a Christmas pantomime in our town. It was fun to get involved in something frivolous and meet some new people. A bitta craic anyway!

Panto cast ready for our secret agents scene

Edel and I as Goldilocks and Red Riding Hood

 I moved back to Northern Spain in January. I'm back at my old school with new faces and I love it.

Co-teachers and mates before a crazy Spain night out!

Can you guess which are the teachers?! Ha!

It's not like this every night, I swear!

My sister came to visit me in June! :)

I'm just back after a Summer spent at home in Ireland as a lady of leisure where I got up to plenty of mischief!

Spent five days in Budapest with my sis in July!! Fantastico! I'll blog in more detail later.

 My Aussie friend Natalie who I met in Spain popped over from London for a few days and we hit the town.

 My cousin got married over August bank holiday weekend. It was so lovely to get all the relatives together!

My cousin Brendan on his wedding day with his Mum's side of the family (that's us!).

My lovely family and I.

 I turned 27 and made quite the weekend of it! I visited mates in Galway to eat, drink and watch amazing movies like Spiceworld...yes really!!- on Friday and then out on the town on the Saturday. We got a rickshaw ride to the pizza place for post-club eating...white jacket and drunk pizza eating=bad combo f.yi!

(Before the pizza!)

Then we all got the bus to my home town for Chinese food,wine and many many shots... and some dancing!

And then, before I knew it, Summer was over and I was back in Spain and back to work...oh and play ;)

I'm back

I've been on a bit of a blogging break, sparked mainly by not having internet for a while but also the fact I had feck all to write about. So after 8 months of neglect I'm gonna try and reclaim my blog. I'm hoping to get a half decent camera soon, at which point I'm sure I'll go blog-crazy. For now, though, here's a quick update!
I'm weighing in at under 11 stone. Though I'm not sure of the exact figure, I do know that I've been fluctuating in and around the 11 mark since January. The main reason for that has been lack of exercise. I moved back to Spain at the end of January and didn't join the gym there- I intended to but was putting it off again and again til it was kinda pointless. So between Christmas and Easter, I lost a couple of lbs, not fat mind you but muscle. However, between April and now I gained a couple and that was definitely not muscle!! I look the same but am really conscious of my arse- the lack of exercise has resulted in it virtually disappearing!
So now I'm home for the Summer and I joined the gym last week. I went four times and am feeling the difference already. Regaining my cardio fitness isn't as hard as I thought it'd be. Don't get me wrong, it's horrible but there's not much difference in my times and stuff.
A big motivation for getting back to the gym, saggy arse aside, is my cousin's upcoming wedding in...12 DAYS!! Healthy food and drink galore as well as 5/6 gym visits per week. I started today with an omlette (with ham, mushroom, pepper, potato and chilli) and juice and will be indulging in some mixed seed ricecakes with peanut butter and a chicken stirfry with brown rice, as well as 2+ litres of water and 40+ minutes of cardio along with some fitness ball and free-weight exercises.
As I said, I returned to Spain in January to my old job but with new people. I couldnt be happier. I have the Summer off but am looking forward to going back in September. I love the job, get along well with my bosses and two of my co-teachers are returning in September so that's nice. My main goal there is to learn some more Spanish. I'm quite rubbish- I have a good ear but I'm lazy as hell and get really embarassed, so that's something I need to work on.
Hmmm what else have I been up to?! Well I visited Amsterdam in November and Budapest earlier this month. In Spain, I visted Barcelona, Logrono and Haro as well as returning to Bilbao, Madrid and San Sebastian. I also finally visited the closest city to me, Vitoria- people were always shocked when I told them I'd only ever passed through, especially as it's like 20minutes away! Oops! :D When I go back I want to visit the North-West as well as revisiting the South.
In the meantime, it's Dark Knight Rises on Saturday, wedding the following Saturday, my birthday the week of the 18th, then a weekend in Galway, a night in Sligo and then back to Spain to apartment hunt and enjoy a local fiesta before returning to work!