Sunday cosies & Football night

There is something ridiculously satisfying about turning the oven on early on a cold morning, or lighting the fireplace and slowly feeling the house warm up. It must be something very primeval because it just feels so good.

And that was exactly how this Sunday started.

I let Blue out and got started on my protein scones. I had already assembled all the dry ingredients yesterday, so this morning it was easy peasy: add the eggs, a dash of water, mix, and into the oven they went.

While the scones were baking, I made myself a coffee. Weekend coffee, obviously: coffee, protein milk and a little sweetener.

Nothing complicated, but exactly what I wanted while the kitchen was warming up.

For breakfast we also had this light chicken bacon. We really like it because you can get it properly crispy and tasty without it bringing the same amount of fat and calories as regular bacon.

And that was breakfast sorted: eggs, chicken bacon, bread, freshly baked protein scones and coffee.

Definitely one of those breakfasts that makes a slow Sunday morning feel like a proper Sunday morning.

Blue, meanwhile, was absolutely convinced that our breakfast should also be her breakfast.

The cutest eyes, scratching our legs to get our attention… but unfortunately for her, no luck today.

Meanwhile, the dough for the protein rosemary bread had finished rising, so I divided it in half and put that in the oven too.

The package itself is basically the dry ingredients for the protein bread, but yesterday I added Mediterranean spices to it instead of leaving it plain.

That little change made such a difference.

The flavour was much better than the plain version, and this is exactly the kind of thing I like doing with products like this: use the convenient base, but make it taste like something I actually want to eat.

The scones are also much better now that I add cardamom and cinnamon-roll protein powder. I tried adding a little cinnamon as well, although that was barely noticeable.

The raspberry light jam, however, was perfect. The strawberry version was naturally much more watery, while this one actually stays on the scone. With a little light butter, it gives them exactly the bit of sweetness and moisture they need.

Later in the day, the air fryer got taken out of the cupboard: Protein pizza.

I used whole wheat pizza base with flavored tomato sauce, light cheese, boiled shredded chicken breast from yesterday, sliced kylling pålegg and oregano. Pedro’s was also loaded with light cottage cheese!

The air fryer is perfect for these because it gets the base nice and crisp, the toppings hot and the cheese properly melted without needing to turn the whole oven back on again.

And obviously a pizza needed a dipping sauce.

This one could not be easier: Kesam Mager mixed with guacamole seasoning.

I use around 5–8 g of the seasoning for 200 g of Kesam, mix it well and leave it for about 10–15 minutes so the dried ingredients have time to soften and the flavour develops.

If I want it slightly thinner, I just add a tiny splash of water.

That is literally it, and it is ridiculously good with the pizza.

And to finish Sunday properly, football on the TV: Norway against Portugal in the UEFA Nations League.

After a day of baking, cooking, coffee, Blue trying her luck with every plate, this felt like the right kind of ending together with a very good air-fryer pizza.

Feet up, house warm, and football on. A very cosy Sunday from start to finish.

I think sometimes people make nutrition far more complicated — and far less enjoyable — than it needs to be.

Eating with a goal does not mean every meal has to look like chicken, rice and broccoli. There is a lot of room between eating without any thought at all and turning every meal into a diet meal.

And quite frankly, if I can make a pizza that gives me what I want nutritionally, make a creamy dipping sauce to go with it, and still be excited to eat the whole thing, I know which option I am choosing.

So that was Sunday when it comes up to food.

The house was warm, coffee was made, Blue spent the day campaigning for our food, the oven handled the morning shift, the air fryer took over later, and somewhere between the protein scones, fresh bread, pizza and guac-kesam dip, quite a lot of nice food came out of the kitchen.

Nothing particularly crazy or strict.

Just a very good cosy Sunday at home.