Wanna go to Turkey x3?

Nothing beats a lazy Saturday night in w. greasy Chinese food. Time to bring out the elastic drawstring pants!!

Chicken satay with peanut dipping sauce.

Fatty spare ribs in sweet and sour sauce

Veggie egg rolls with crunchy sweetened seaweed.

Chicken curry

Beef w. onions

Lo mein with beef and sprouts

"shrimp fried rice!" "shrimp fried rice!"

Egg and corn soup- we needed something to warm us up because our flat is SOOO FREAKING COLD! We have really high celings so our heat doesn't circulate throughout our house very well. We've already bought an extra heater for our upstairs bedroom. Too bad it doesn't warm up the entire place. It's going to be a verrrrrrrrrrrrry long winter. :/

We got up this morning and were feeling productive so we decided to decorate the Christmas tree!

We're still in the process of building our ornament collection. Our tree is so darn big that this doesn't really cut it.

She's such a curious pup.

 

Unfortunately, our morning of decorating the tree and listening to Christmas carols was cut short due to a grisley discovery. Noma has been favoring her one leg for the past week and we just found out that it's because of her left toenail. Her nail must have gotten a rip in it and poor girl has been getting it caught on things ever since and yelping from time to time. I don't really know how we didn't catch it earlier.

Thankfully a vet was open on a Sunday near us and we took her to get it ripped out. Ouch. :(

Lunch: Turkish food

This restaurant has three different locations all in the same block. The one we went to was the smaller of the three. I loved the decor; the ceiling was decorated in dangling colorful lamps and the walls were plastered w. memorabilia from Turkey and family photos. It felt like we were in someones home. Me likey :)

We ordered the set menu of meza's for two.

cold starters: olives

Black eyed peas. I think I like BYP the least of all the beans I've tried. They were a bit too hard and chewy.

Some sort of sour and tangy chickpeas and vegetable mixture.

Yogurt and cucumber dip.

Hummous- It's good but not as creamy or flavorful as the lebanese version.

Turkish potato salad. My favorite of the cold mezza's. It had a spicy kick to it. Mmmmmm!!

Yogurt dip w. broad beans, olive oil, and dill.

Bread for dipping.

Grapeleaves filled with rice and vegetable.

Chicken

Lamb and mushrooms in a warm delicious sauce. I love how tender and flavorful lamb can be if prepared right. So amazing!

Fried pastry filled with delicious cheese

Kefta

Falafel smothered in yogurt sauce. The outside was perfectly crisp and the inside nice and hot. Yum!

At the end of the meal, they brought out this spoonful bite of cream and pistachio with an apricot on top. Nice way to end the meal.

But who said we were done? Coffee and dessert anyone?

We went to the second Gallipoli location and had profiteroles for dessert.

Yep- these cream on the outside, chocolate filled puffed pastries were gone within seconds. Definitely could have licked the plate if no one was watching :o)

With a bit of Turkish coffee on the side. 

Tonight's agenda: All things ZUMBA and fitness related. Thankfully I have a week off this week. I have lots of catching up to do!

Song of the day: 4ever- "Porque te amo"

Taste of X-Mas

Welcome to the Taste of Christmas!

Home of delicious creole vegan bread samples. I really can't believe these breads are vegan. Holy moly. They are SO GOOD. We bought the mixed berry loaf which tasted superb.

Lots of dips to try

The crowds were in full force

Adorable gingerbread houses!! I haven't made one since I was a girl scout in middle school.

We bought one! I couldn't resist :o)

The chilli fudge had a nice spicy kick to it. We bought a mixed bag of the chilli and white chocolate cranberry fudge.

Vitamix demo. I would definitely recommend a Vitamix to anyone looking for a good blender. It's expensive but definitely worth the money. It's sturdy, strong, versatile, and it leaves all the nutrients in the fruits and vegetables you use.

Healthy breakfast samples

There were a ton of bread/olive oil samples, chips and dips, cheeses, chorizo's, chocolates, wines, and liquor stands.

Samples of caribbean jerk sausage

Capon w. pumpkin and mango puree. Yummy! The flavors definitely reminded me of Christmas. The puree was my favorite part.

Really strong tasting cheddar cheese.

Samples of rum.

Sweeeeeeeeeeeet. LV cake. What girl wouldn't love having that for her birthday?

Apple streudal sample from the Bread Shop.

Beautiful cake samples for anyone looking for wedding cake ideas? NEXT!!

 Upscale Indian food

The chicken tikka pie w. berry chutney was interesting and very good. I didn't think the berry chutney would go well w. the chicken tikka but surprisingly, the combo worked.

Coconut curry prawn w. rice. YUM

The salmon was very fresh and buttery. We each had one but I was left wanting more :)

The pork belly with mash potatoes. Fatty but I like it like that :P

Truffle and foie gras burger w. truffle mayo. I had a bite without the foie gras (I've banned it from my diet) and it was amazing. Truffle oil is seriously good stuff.

Tender lamb w. peas and mushrooms.

VIP lounge w. a complimentary glass of champagne.

Pistachio, chestnut chocolate, and mango macaron. Ever since Paris, I've been mildy obsessed w. macarons. They are so pretty and fun to eat!

So chewy and decadant.

I ate all three and was left w. a mild stomachache and a HUGE migraine.

Agenda for the night: relaxation!

The early bird gets the worm

I'm up at 6. Where's my WORM! Hmph.

Breakfast time!
Into the oats mix:

• 1/4 cup oats
• 1/4 cup water and milk
• sprinkle of salt
• raisins
• goji berries
• cinnamon
• vanilla extract
• coconut flakes 
• almonds
• spoonful of crunchy peanut butter

Pretty dang tasty if I say so myself. I miss having time to eat breakfast and blog comfortably. Unfortunately, I didn't get up early to stuff my face and write leisurely; I have to study!

Last night's festivities took place in a beautiful hall. I wasn't able to take pictures of the free flowing champagne and the assortment of hors d'oeurvres being passed around but I did manage to get a few pics of the interior as I was leaving.

The actual room we were in was a beautiful gold and red room with a huge chandelier draping in the middle. Very classy. It was nice to get dolled up in my gold dress and heels since I've been living in gym clothes 24/7 lately!! We mingled a little, ate, drank, and dashed. All I could think about was "the right atrium collects deoxygenated blood from the inferior and superior vena cava, blah blah blah." Gee. When did I get so dull.

Since we weren't full off the passed appetizers.

Bi-Bim-Bap- rice w. veggies, beef, fried egg, sesame oil, and spicy saucee

Sushi set.

And I'm out.

Short and sweet

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.. inside and out (it's been snowing in London for the past couple days).

T got a tree! O'lordie.. All I could think of was "are there bugs in there?" Sure enough, an earwig popped out and started crawling around our floor. Seriously?! Those are the worst. Well.....maybe spiders are the worst. Either way, that's the price you pay for having a real Christmas tree! Good thing it looks nice or else I would have been screaming to get it out get it out!!

Excuuuuse the mess but isn't that a grand tree. Give all the credit to the hubby. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have a tree this Christmas! I've been such a busy bee lately that I haven't stopped much to think about Christmas. It's my favorite season though so better start playing my Mariah Carey and N'Sync christmas tunes. te hehehe :o) :o)

Protein smoothie to tide me over before T's work holiday party. Apparently it's drinks and hors d'oeuvres. I'll have to remind myself not to imbibe in too many beverages since I have two tests tomorrow; one on anatomy & physiology and the other in exercise, fitness and health. EEEK! I can't miss more than 12 questions or else I'll have to retake the test and face the shame and embarrassment. Blergh.

Into the Vitamix:

• cup of skim milk
• cup of berries
• ice
• vanilla yogurt
• scoop of chocolate protein powder
• agave nectar
• cranberry maple muesli on top

Zumba update: Found out today from my YMCA gym that they might be looking for volunteer Zumba teachers to cover classes (currently there is only one Zumba class per week- ONE!! Craziness!!). Granted it doesn't sound like its a paid position but I'll do anything for the ability to practice. Fingers crossed I can actually start teaching sooner than later!

Time to get my study on.