Summertime and livin's easy

We’re having an Indian summer over here in London- whaaat whaaat! (hands are up in the air) :-) 

Don’t ask me why but “summertime and livin’s easy” Sublime song just came up in my head. I love that song! I just took our dog outside this morning and it is REALLY nice outside and it’s only 10 a.m. I would have expected the weather to turn on us already but it hasn’t. This makes me extremely happy!

Now if only I could shift to externally display this happiness. It’s hard to be happy when you just feel tired all day.

Yesterday was no exception. Even though T had gotten 3 hours of sleep, he stepped out and got lunch for us.  A few of our favorite things.

beef Jamaican patty- it was somewhat dry

Everything tasted just okay. We might have been spoiled by all the wonderful Jamaican food we had at Notting Hill's Carnival this past August. This just doesn't compare..

I'm not sure of the name of the place but it was some place further down Caledonian road from our flat. Based on what we ate, I don't think we'll be making another visit :(

The flavor of the Jerk chicken was there but the meat was dry and that didn't really help bring out the spices.

The curried goat had the same problem, everything just tasted dried out and not as fresh. I did enjoy the rice and peas tho!

we also had some spicy chicken wings on the plate. Talk about a healthy lunch!! ;)

After lunch, I took a long nap and rehearsed some moves for my Zumba class I taught later that night. 

Dinner was just some reheated leftovers from lunch and chinese the other night. I also sauteed some mushrooms for the veggie portion of the meal.

mushrooms sauted in: evoo, fresh minced garlic, salt, pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil, and siracha= yum!!

I got part of my amazon shipment yesterday, wee hoo! I've recently discovered how convenient and cheap things can be when ordered through Amazon.... uh oh.. this could get veerry dangerous real quick!

breakfast this morning: scrambled eggs w. ketchup and 1/2 of the butt end of whole wheat toast. Does anyone like eating the butt end of bread? I guess I don't particularly mind that much, but I think most people just toss them.

I later made myself a smoothie because I thought I was still hungry (aka my stomach was making noise). But it's still gurgling! Oops- I think I may have mistaken dehydration for hunger.. argh!!

at least the smoothie was peanut buttery delicious. And check out that awesome color!

In the VITAmix:

• soy milk
• frozen blueberries
• frozen banana
• heaping scoop of smooth, no sugar added peanut butter
• generous squeeze of agave nectar
• toppings: a little muesli and dark chocolate chips

Fun workout to do: Tone it Up's Rush workout. I'll be saving this for another day because I'm going to PUNCH today! Can't wait to get some of those exercise endorphins running through my body later.
http://toneitup.com/blog.php?RUSH-WORKOUT-5188

Baking mood

Yesterday's lunch was muy delicioso and very simple to make. I started out by sautéing some prawns in garlic and evoo, taking them off the stove just before they were completely cooked so they didn't turn out rubbery.

Then, I added in some mushrooms, sliced peppers and pad thai sauce, mixing everything together

Last but not least, I added in the GF noodles and made sure every last strand was covered in sauce.. YUM!!

 

this was the perfect lunch :)

Dinner last night:

While perusing the store, I came across Okra and decided to give it a go. I've never made it on my own and have only had it in Indian restaurants, but I really love the texture and flavour of it.

Note to self: make sure OKRA is DRY prior to cooking or else they will turn slimy!! Oops!!

they turned out all right, even though they were a bit slippery tasting in my mouth.

pan fried with evoo, salt, pepper, minced garlic, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp coriander, and 1/2 tsp black pepper.

side of grapes for dessert!

Breakfast then gym time.

In the gym: Tone it up's Bikini Strap workout with some minor adjustments, 3 sets, 10 reps

• Squat, then lateral raise + leg adduction using 3kg dumbbells

• Curtsy lunge with bicep curl

• Plank with 3kg T row's

• Chest fly while butt is lifted off ground

• Tricep extension while butt is lifted off ground

• Upper chest press combined with shoulder press in v-sit position

• V-sit twists using medicine ball

After the gym, I was in quite the baking mood and so decided to make some recipes from Katie's blog.

 

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/09/15/chocolate-bar-pie/

I made Katie’s Chocolate Bar Pie and it’s currently sitting patiently in the fridge, waiting to be eaten. It’s a sheer test of my willpower!

I'm a huge fan of any recipe that has a secret healthy hidden ingredient.

I snagged a bit of the pie filling and it was mmm..mmmm mmmm!!

This was made in less than 3 minutes since I used premade piecrust. If it tastes as good as it looks, its definitely going to be in my repertoire.

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/04/06/funfetti-cookie-dough-balls/

These honestly tasted like chocolate chip cookies to me; they were super delicious and gone in 30 seconds.

 

Agenda: read, study, teach zumba, relax, make some chili! 

Moro restaurant

We went out to dinner at Moro last night and I tried my best to be GF but I sort of had a don't ask don't tell policy going on.. I didn't ask if the food was GF and I didn't tell anyone (well.. besides the hubby) that I was on a GF kick. Sometimes its better not to get other peeps involved! Besides, I'm pretty sure the food was 80%GF

First, I started off with some sweet potato fries at home since our dinner reservation was at 9:15p.m.!

• sweet potatoes peeled and cut into fry like pieces
• rubbed with love and olive oil
• sprinkled with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper
• in the oven max temp for 20 minutes, flipped midway through

Back to dinner

We ordered a bottle of this lovely Spanish Tempranillo wine. It was a nice sipping wine and also complimented most our dishes. I'll let Wikipedia describe the wine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempranillo

charcoal grilled sardines with harissa

piquillo peppers

These were very mild yet delicious peppers. I could seriously eat a whole small plate full of em!

white pork sausage with a bean puree

patatas bravas smothered in mayo and tomato sauce.. Drool worthy fo sho!

Wood roasted mackerel with lentils, gem lettuce, piquillo peppers, fried garlic and sherry vinegar

I loved this mackerel dish! The fish was perfectly cooked and the saltiness of the fish was well balanced by the creamy lentils, roasted peppers and greens.. Yum!

I also took a few bites of T's lamb with eggplant and rice. The rice was so buttery and delicious that I had to be reminded that it was the bone marrow not actual butter!

We went out for a couple cocktails at VOC after dinner and then called it a night. I woke up this morning with a huge hankering for T's special sunny side up eggs with all spice and cinnamon. My body was also craving bread since I didn't have any last night with dinner. It's actually easy to say no to the bread basket for a change since I have a set goal to go GF for only a month. I would highly recommend setting realistic goals in order to prevent slip ups in the future. For example, I probably wouldn't be able to stick with the no bread rule if I didn't have a timeline as to when I could start eating bread again. I can give up bread for a month-easy peasy!

GF bread that is :)

with some pure Olive spread. 

• No dairy
• No hydrogenated oils
• No artificial additives
• No GM ingredients
• No gluten

this is just what my body was craving this morning!

I crawled out of the house and into the gym. I did not want to go to but I literally forced myself because I knew my body and mood would thank me afterwards!

Workout: Tone it up's Sandcastle workout

• warm up 10 minutes jogging on the treadmill

3 sets

• lift straight leg out with dumbbell fly (3kg weights) 10 reps, switch legs
• curtsy lunge with bicep curl (4kg weights), 10 reps, switch legs
• single leg deadlift with upright row (5kg weights), 12 reps, switch legs
• hee haw- lean back while doing a dumbbell front raise (2 kg weights), 10 reps *my quads were quivering!!*
• tummy tuck on hands with glute lift, 10 reps, switch legs
• stability ball hamstring curls, 10 reps
• Stretch 10 minutes

I picked up lunch at Chilangos on the way back from the gym. Their chicken salad is the perfect guilty/healthy pleasure.

• lettuce
• pinto AND black beans
• chicken
• mild and hot salsa
• guacamole
• I added in some brown rice and cottage cheese for some extra protein at home

I also doused it in more hot sauce..

This should keep my full til dinner!!

I'm SUPER SUPER excited to go see Kevin Spacey in Richard III at the Old Vic tonight. Sam Mendes also directed the play! Shhh.. don't tell anyone but I used to have a massive crush on Kevin Spacey.. I think he's weirdly hot, hahaha!!

Back to Viajante for Round 2!

617 calories burnt in 5.15 miles during a run around Regent's Park yesterday morning. The weather was SUPER nice to run in, very mild. The run started off really well but then my legs felt really tired after just 10 minutes but I remembered reading somewhere that the first 20 minutes is usually the toughest for runners- you just have to keep pushing yourself and you'll start to feel better. My legs and running movement just felt more fluid.

After a quick shower, I got ready to meet some friends at Viajante. I've already been there once before and I was excited to try it again for lunch. I'm not gonna lie- I enjoyed my experience more this time around than the last dinner experience. I mean it was still really good both times but I found this lunch a lot more up my alley!

Yuuumm- Thai explosion II!!  I was excited to see it on our menu again. It's got some sort of chicken confit in between two fried skins. It's also got lemongrass which reminds you of thai food. The fried lobster croquette was tasty as well. The green paste (puffed amaranth with sorrel) sort of reminded me of a wheatgrass shot even though I've never had one before, lol.. It literally tasted like eating grass and was a bit too healthy for me. Is that possible? ha!

cured artic char with barley tea and radishes

paprika bread with pork butter. :-D

Yuzu crab with herbal broth and shimejii mushrooms

I was SO impressed by all the beautiful colors on this plate. It was definitely a treat for the eyes.

roast beef skirt with girolles, turnips, and yeast (??)

I'm not quite sure what it was but something in the sauce reminded me of a korean soup called Doenjang Chigae. The beef was sort of hard to eat (too chewy!) but the flavor was outstanding. I really enjoyed it.. even though I'm not sure where yeast fits into it. That's what it said on our printed menu!

beautiful ladies!

palate refresher- I was in love this frozen marzipan with celery and lime. I think this was my favorite because the marzipan tasted like an extravagent almond dessert. It was so freaking delicious!

the main dessert was equally amazing as the palate refresher. Beetroot and dark chocolate crumbles (crunchy in texture sort of like oreos) WOW WOW WOW. Did I tell you how much in love I am with beets and to have this sort of dessert was like my lucky day or something! There were also chewy pieces of what looked like beets but I'm not quite sure what it was. All the different textures made this dessert really fun to eat too. 

salivating just thinking about it...

mushroom truffles with coconut marshmallows!! Yes COCONUT marshmallows! I think I dun died and went to heaven!

catalan creme... We were fortunate enough to have Chef Nuno Mendes (which we didn't know at the exact moment) come to our table and present the first few amuse bouches. We did remark before we knew who he was that we found him very mysteriously attractive. I think it was the long shaggy hair, beard and humble aura. :-). The only misfortune is that we didn't get to take a picture with him!

Surprisingly, after all that I still had room for dinner later that evening. 

chopped up some garlic and red onions

with some bok choy- mm mmm!

sauteed in a wok with soy sauce and siracha

the lamb ended up forming a really crispy crust in the oven so it was pretty good!!

honey oats and more cereal for breakfast then GYM time!

I added some additional almonds and raisins

Workout: Tone it up's Bikini Max Burn workout plus Itty Bitty workout

• 20 jumping Jacks
• 10 burpees
• 20 lunges
• 5 minute jog
• 10 push-ups
• 10 dips
• 20 lunges
• 5 minute jog
• 20 second plank on hands
• 20 tummy tucks
• 5 minute jog
• 20 bicycle crunches

Itty bitty routine- 10 reps, 3 sets

• legs straight, back pressed onto floor, bring straight legs up and down for 10
• legs straight and at 45 degree angle, bring shoulders off ground and crunch up as straight legs come up
• side plank dips
• hold plank on forearms, come up onto hands and do tummy tucks on either side then back to plank position (Gawwdd, I was shaking towards the end of the 3 sets!!)

cottage cheese, fruits, squeeze of agave nectar

I had a quick protein snack after the gym. I would try this combination- its really good!

I stopped by the store and happened to walk by some basil and thought to myself..yum basil sounds really good right now so I went ahead and bought the other ingredients for a simple caprese salad!

mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, balsamic vinegar= ammazeballs!!

wholewheat tortilla, spicy refried beans, avocado slices, salsa- OLE!

okay this doesn't look very appetizing but it was a really good vegetarian lunch!

Time to get productive- peace out!