Monday 28 February 2011

Back to Lahore!

T got free tickets to the Carling Cup Final 2011: Arsenal v. Birmingham City
We stopped inside the Champagne and Seafood bar to get a snack and drinks before the game. Fresh green beans, onions, potatoes, generous chunks of tuna and an egg on top.
Fresh peeled prawns. These little guys packed so much flavor.
Pesto covered potato salad.
The stadium was packed and a sea of blue (Birmingham) and red (Arsenal)
I swear I heard more from the blue side.
The game was very fast paced and exciting. I thought Arsenal had possession of the ball most of the time but Birmingham's defense stopped them from scoring more than once.

Celebration of Birmingham's first c
 
Birmingham FTW. What an awesome game. Final score: Birmingham 2; Arsenal 1

Dinner was at Lahore Kabab House. We decided to give them another shot. This time with an actual reservation :)
We were supposed to meet a friend there for dinner who had flown into town but as sort of expected, he didn't show up. What friend doesn't call or message and keeps us waiting? Grrr... thanks for proving us right. :-D Okay enough of my immature rant. Onto more important things like the great company we had instead and the tasty dinner.
We started off with the usual salad
Lamb samosas. Crispy and flaky with yummy minced lamb pouring out from the middle.
Delicious lamb chops. Very nicely cooked and tender.

Chicken tikka
Butter chicken. The sauce for this dish was muy bueno. Yummmmy!!
There was something about this saag paneer that tasted a bit off. It tasted sort of like vitamins maybe? Not my favorite..
Meat biyriani. The rice was very flavorful and had the perfect balance of spices.
My overflowing plate. Blergh. So full. Overall, I thought the food was pretty good. I still think my favorite is
http://www.tayyabs.co.uk/. I'm glad we tried it though to wash that ugly taste from my mouth of having to wait for an hour the last time.

Agenda: BoxFit, work on nutrition homework, work on outdoor programme, relax :)

Sunday 27 February 2011

Griglia

My gosh darn left foot. I think I might have:
a.) sprained it while doing outdoor circuit training
b.) hurt it while dancing
c.) a combination of both a & b

I was able to run for about 20 minutes this morning before I decided to give my foot a rest. The sun was out and calling my name :)

Dinner on Friday at Griglia formerly known as Metro Gusto:
The wonderful complimentary bread basket. The breads were salty, garlicy and carb-o-licious.
Burrata appetizer with courgettes and aubergines. I loved the combination of the cold cheese with warm vegetables. Mmmmm..
Green pappardelle with veal meatballs and artichokes. Very hearty and satisfying dish of pasta.
Rosemary infused potatoes
Fried skinny courgette fries.

I would definitely recommend Grigilia. The ambiance was romantic, service friendly and the food very delicious!

Saturday lunch: Jerk chicken and rice n' beans. YUMM-O!!

We stopped at this Carribean jerk chicken restaurant in Chapel market for a quick and very cheap bite. My jerk chicken n rice was only 3 pounds (inc. a drink). I forgot how much I appreciate spicy and delicious Jamaican food :)

Late afternoon snack at Assa:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/place?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=assa+in+london&fb=1&gl=uk&hq=assa&hnear=Westminster,+London&cid=16499239970845492574

Seafood ramen with rice. This dish brings back memories of my childhood. I would always make ramen and then add in some rice after eating all the ramen noodles because the broth is just that good! :). T's bibimbap was sort of a letdown but we would definitely go back to try some other dishes.

Off to the Arsenal v. Birmingham city football match today w. a 3 course lunch and champagne reception. Woo hoo!!!  :-D

Friday 25 February 2011

Some people have all the luck...

I PASSED my anatomy theory test that I honestly believed I had failed. I am one step closer to becoming a Personal Trainer. After the most shitastic (excuse my language) week and a few tears shed in a bathroom.. yep a bathroom for no real reason, this is GREAT news to end my week. I think I might have scared my teacher when he said I passed and I almost shouted "you're kidding me!!" at him. :-D
I had a quite yummy black bean burger yesterday @  http://www.eaglebardiner.com/. I decided to go vegetarian for lunch. It was extra good because it was on an actual sesame seeded bun. Woo hoo! London restaurants are notorious for serving their burgers all kinds of different breads- no gracias!

Dinner: Sauteed kale, mushrooms with chicken and quinoa.

I might have gone a lil overboard w. the soy sauce :o)

Breakfast: Multi-grain bagel w. cream cheese n honey. Banana's and apples with peanut butter. 
Pre-cycle class snack break. I stopped in Sainsbury's and helped myself to the salad bar. In the mix: beets, pasta, peppers, cucumbers, olives, feta, beans, and corn.
I did my first spinning class today. It was actually a mock class taught by a classmate of mine who will be teaching her first class tonight. I was a serious SKEPTIC about spinning and I did NOT want to do it. Surprisingly, I thought the class was REALLY effective and a very challenging but amazing workout. My legs were burning about halfway through the class and it was only 30 minutes!! I would definitely recommend spinning to anyone looking for a high intensity, maximal calorie burning, and efficient workout. Good stuff really!

Time to relax after the long week...

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle"- Plato

Wednesday 23 February 2011

FC Bayern Munich FTW

I ran out of bagels so I made some wholewheat toast with some egg whites
Even though I don't like just the flavor of egg whites, this stuff is awesome. No more need to waste the yolk and deal with the mess of cracking open the egg and fish out the whites.
Some smoked salmon
and all together now..This breakfast fueled me through an outdoor circuit training session yesterday. We're down to the last final weeks of our program and MAN is it tough. I don't know yet how I feel about outdoor circuit training. Think 100 reps of all kinds of exercises ranging from mountain climbers, squat jumps, burpees, lunges, grasshoppers, ETC. If I ever need a reminder how out of shape I am, well this is it :)
Dinner yesterday: Bigham's shepards pie..

I also sauteed some asparagus and mushrooms in EVOO, salt n peppa.

Today was another outdoor session but this time in the rain....for two hours.. in the mud.. in Regent's park. Blergh. Someone shoot me now. Yea?
Lunch: I wanted something to warm me up. Any place that rhymes it's restaurant name sounds promising and authentic :P
I ordered the chinese noodles with shredded chicken and shrimp in a spicy and sour broth. Surprisingly, it was quite tasty.
Whey protein smoothie time. I topped it with a free sample that I got from my recent Ocado order. Oat's & More. The texture was very crunchy and it had a slight honey taste. Yum :)
Dinner and drinks at a proper German bar to watch a proper football match :o).  It was also a farewell dinner to a couple who are moving back to San Francisco after a short stay in London. 
http://zeitgeist-london.com/?page_id=3
Pint o' prawns- these prawns were not very good. I was hoping for plump, big, juicy prawns but all we got were small prawns that had little eggs in the bodies of them that we had to peel back. Eeewwww.. I would lie and say I didn't eat them but I had my fair share of em.
Cheezburga and chips
When at a German pub, one must order wienerschnitzel aka breaded veal. It was good but I felt like I needed a dipping sauce with it. Spoken like a true American no?
 GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
FC Bayern Munich for the win!!
The crowd was going nuts everytime Germany had a potential goal but boy did they go crazy for that last shot in the final minute of the game. Ammmazzzing!!

Now that my body is aching from every possible joint and muscle....BED TIME!