Treadmills and Toblerone Cheesecake

I have just eaten an obscene amount of my own creation of Jane’s Patisserie’s No Bake Toblerone Cheesecake. And, I am contemplating another slice.

Making it didn’t quite go to plan. I made a schoolgirl error in not using full fat cream so it didn’t quite whip up into the self-supporting peaks I was hoping for. However, I popped it in the freezer and it is now a delicious ice cream-like frozen cheesecake. Or half a cheesecake, as I write.

Most of my baking and cooking inspiration comes through spending an embarrassing amount of time on Instagram. Instagram is an addictive world of photograph’s, including pictures of delicious-looking naughty treats. Jane’s Patisserie’s photographs make my mouth salivate quite frequently. I have been caught a few times browsing through the hashtag #cake #baking #chocolate in order to get my fix of photographed baked goodies. And, with the start of The Great British Bake Off I have been provided with further #foodporn browsing through the #GBBO hashtag.

Another inspirational baking blog is My Kitchen Drawer. A very professional looking blog whose author, Alix, uses some snazzy food styling to capture how beautiful some of her cooking and baking is. My mum has her eye on the Millionaire Shortbread Macarons.

My cousin Amy’s website is the bomb, too. She has an exceptional talent for food styling and cooking (and eating, but that runs in the family). She recently worked for Jamie Oliver at the The Big Festival. Her website looks fantastic and she too, gives me food envy on a regular basis. Amy has a real flare for not only cooking good, healthy food, but how to make it look incredibly delicious as well.

Spending a bit of time researching recipes and cooking ideas is well worth it. Especially when many of these chefs are providing healthier alternatives to some of our favourite meals and bakes, and producing creative ideas to keep our diets varied and interesting. Using Instagram can help you discover a whole world of cooking and baking ideas to suit your nutritional needs. Go on! Indulge in several minutes of ogling at heavenly-looking plates of food.

Preparation for take two at an Olympic distance triathlon this weekend has involved a lot of mental work to keep me motivated on my treadmill of swim, bike and run after the let down in Lausanne (check out my Facebook page to see what happened – it involved a snapped bike wheel). I thought I would be chilling out (I wouldn’t stop training, but maybe taking it a little easier), being social and enjoying the end of the summer. However, as a person to not give up on goals, I am determined to finish an Olympic distance triathlon this year. I therefore, with some parental encouragement, entered the Yverdon triathlon this Sunday. Focusing on enjoying my food and nourishing my body to perform well, and working hard in order to eat cheesecake in vast quantities, is what has been keeping me going and providing me with a distraction from not getting overly nervous and stressed. As training hard was extended to longer than expected, I have had to readjust my balance so as not to burn out and remain positive about competing on Sunday.

I hope to give some tips and advice in my next post, after completing the triathlon (watch this space) for novice triathletes, along with some of the psychological barriers one might encounter, too.

In the meantime, I am going to have another piece of cheesecake. Oink.