The Bonnie and Wild

We had a wonderful lunch yesterday, eating rib-eye steaks marinated in Korean gochujang paste and red miso again.

T's friend was gracious enough to bring over rib-eye steaks for us from Whole Foods.

a little steaks on the stovetop action

I always seem to have a problem of chewy, rubbery steaks when I cook on the stovetop but yesterday's steaks that were really flavorful and tender.

mushrooms marinated in balsamic vinegar and sauteed.

asparagus lightly seasoned with butter and a heavy hand of pepper and sea salt.

triple cooked chips- boiled, fried, baked. T's still trying to perfect the triple cooked chips, as they turned out not as crispy yesterday. I'm thinking maybe he has to fry the bad boys after he bakes them.

This was really a perfect Saturday afternoon lunch.

We headed over to the Belgravia area for our second weekend pub crawl. If you want to see a rich area (money, money, moneeeey!!), check out Belgravia!!

 

We were intending to meet the group at the second pub called The Plumber’s Arms, but when we arrived, we found out it closes on the weekends! After making a call, the group decided to meet at the Shakespearean, a touristy pub right across from Victoria station.

hello cervezas!

I spy, with my little eye....a beautiful rainbow!! I haven't seen one of these in years.. Sigh..

We made our way to the second pub The Antelope and stayed for one glass of wine for muah and a pint for him. No pictures though. I must have forgotten amidst all the chatter among fellow ex-pats. A friend of T’s who seemed to have acquired a mass amount of friends/acquaintances through his diligent networking skills put the pub crawl together. I always appreciate people who do all the gritty work for me, all I have to do is show up! :) Hats off.

We popped into the Grenadier, a lovely looking pub outside and cozy little space inside, but we sadly we couldn't stay..

We hit up two pubs and had to dash because we had a dinner date at The Boonie & Wild, a “part time” restaurant. So, the restaurant is part-time because it’s actually run by a catering company that rents out a fish and chips shop in Chapel Market only on the weekends. The vibe is laid back but the food isn't. I would say that the food is equivalent to a bib gourmand gastro pub. I was impressed by the attention given by our waitress as she really stepped it up, filling our water pitchers, giving us extra bread, and bringing me, the only ketchup left in the kitchen. :)

I've reintroduced gluten back in my life after giving the gluten free diet an experimental shot for almost a month. It was an interesting experiment to see what life is like having to do without wheat, rye, and barley. I'll talk more about it later but I realized I don't have a gluten allergy and I think its best for me to focus on achieving a balanced diet, geared more towards eating fresh ingredients rather than completely avoiding certain things like gluten.

I had the lions share of the bread-- I asked for more after the first bowl was done!

a little white vino to complement our meal

T had the goats cheese and fig appetizer to start. I had a bite of it and it was heavenly-- the creamy goats cheese really complements the figs. I also love the texture of the crunchy little seeds in the figs, nom nom nom!!

I had an equally amazing starter: 4 maldon oysters in a shallot vinigrette= Amaazing and definitely slurpable!!

Our mains were delicious as well, we both had the grey mullet- it looked similar to seabass but it was a bit heartier in texture, and a trio of queen scallops

we had chips and aubergine as our sides. The aubergine was rolled with ricotta cheese and complemented with rocket leaves, tomatoes, and olives.

our first dessert was a selection of four different cheeses, oatcakes, and an pear chutney I believe. All four cheeses were tasty in their own unique way. I was stuffed but somehow, I managed to have one bite too many of each cheese!
Our second dessert was a plum clafoutis with raspberry coulis that had the consistency of a lighter egg frittata. It was quite yummy!

Breakfast this morning was a simple bowl of honey oats cereal with additional almonds and raisins on top.

I hardly ever eat cereal but #1 we've run out of eggs and #2 I'm too lazy to go to the cornershop to get some

 

the cereal made for a nice breakfast substitute

I will never forget: A silent prayer to the hero's of 9/11 and the thousands of lives lost.

Spice Island takeaway

Yesterday's workout was pretty intense so I found myself making one change. Here's the original workout: I did 5 sets

1.) Burpees- as many as you can for 30 seconds

2.) V-sits- as many as you can for 30 seconds

3.) Mountain climbers- continuously for 30 (get in push up position and alternate bringing left knee to right elbow and right knee to left elbow- try and go as fast as you can)

4.) Jumping Jacks - continuously for 30 seconds

5.) Plank- start in a plank position on hands, then alternate by going down on elbows and back to hands- 30 seconds

6.) Squat jumps- as many as you can in 30 seconds

 

After the 3rd set, my legs were tired from the squat jumps so I found it harder to do V sits so for the 4th and 5th set, I did oblique twists with a dumbbell. I was only planning on doing 3 sets but I felt that with a couple minutes of rest in between sets, I could handle two more sets. I've found that loud music and inner dialogue helps. Like always, I kept telling myself that "change is uncomfortable!!" and boy, was I super schweaty by the end!

Lunchtime:

COM POW! aka combination of kale and bok choy

 

I swear this is my last time eating this for a while! I don't recommend eating one thing too often, because if you're like me, you'll get sick of it real quick!

Tiger Tiger comes with noodles and sauce so it makes for a really simple meal.

Yay! We're monthly wine club members again! We're going to try and sample one bottle a week.

Indian takeaway from Spice Island

We ordered a TON of food. I thought everything tasted pretty good but Tarek wasn't a huge fan. In his words, "I wouldn't order it again" Boooo! He still hasn't found a tikka masala that has a nice balance of sweet and spicy. They've only been overly sweet, which I prefer.

We had everything from coconut rice, to curries, and lamb biriyani.

After dinner, T played his game while I watched New York, I Love You. Aside from the all-star cast, I'm not sure how I felt about the movie.

Agenda: We're joining another pub crawl this afternoon and then its dinner at a "part time" restaurant in Chapel Market- wee hoo!

London Fashion night 2011

protein smoothie deliciousness after my back/biceps/abs routine yesterday. I normally haven't done back and biceps together, but it seemed to be a good 4 day split. Here's what I have planned:
Day 1: Back/Biceps/Abs
Day 2: Cardio or HIIT training
Day 3: Chest/Triceps
Day 4: Legs/Shoulders/Abs
Day 5: PUNCH class
Day 6: Cardio
Day 7: Rest

the usual suspects plus almonds on top

leftovers for lunch: schezuan noodles and eggplant

more fitness reading material- I can't keep up with all my subscriptions!

My plans for the afternoon was reading my new book in bed but I ended up falling asleep!! Blergh. I must have been really tired and not known it because I had ever intention of reading my book!

Last night, I joined some ladies to enjoy London's Fashion night. It's a one night event in London that kickstarts Fashion week next week. Other cities around the world also participate. Shops around Oxford/Bond Street had special promotions, face painting, manicures, free drinks, free swag (for the lucky ones), and Dj's. Each store we went to was littered with fashion forward people. It seemed like a great excuse for those really into fashion to parade around London's busy streets in their most eye dropping gear (jaw dropping for me at times). I seriously felt like such a dork walking around in my cowboy boots and plaid shirt! I don't know a lick about fashion but I really admire those that do.

I played stalker and took pictures of Burberry's Chief Creative Office Christopher Bailey. I didn't know who he was at first but Amanda, our resident fashionista for the night recognized him immediately.

he's kind of a cutie! I'm not sure if the Brits are a fan of being called "cute" as most American men are ;)

front row to Wolf Gang- I had never heard of them before but I really enjoyed their music. The lead singer has an amazing voice. Check em out! http://wolf-gang.co.uk/

We ended the night without any free stuff but we did manage to listen to some good music, browse some really expensive but gorgeous outfits, and score some free drinks :) All in all, it was a very enjoyable night out. Holla to girls nights!

usual oats for breakfast. I'm not feeling the gym today so I think I'm going to be trialing the following circuit I made up:
Repeat circuit 3-5 times, recover 1-2 minutes after each circuit

1.) Burpees- as many as you can for 30 seconds

2.) V-sits- as many as you can for 30 seconds

3.) Mountain climbers- continuously for 30 (get in push up position and alternate bringing left knee to right elbow and right knee to left elbow- try and go as fast as you can)

4.) Jumping Jacks - continuously for 30 seconds

5.) Plank- start in a plank position on hands, then alternate by going down on elbows and back to hands- 30 seconds

6.) Squat jumps- as many as you can in 30 seconds

Bueller..

I really love the texture of halfway cooked broccoli; in fact, I can't really stand broccoli that's fully cooked because it's just mushy in my mouth- blegh!

true to what I said yesterday, I stopped by the store after the gym to buy some veggies and more Tiger Tiger noodles-- I'm officially obsessed!

I sauteed the following veggies prior to adding the schezuan sauce:

• broccoli (pre roasted)
• baby corn
• sugar snap peas
• red onions

after sauteing the veggies, I added in the pre boiled brown rice noodles. Holla for gluten free noodles!

I also may of added in a healthy dose of siracha :). I've been on such a noodle kick lately. The only thing that would make this better is some kimchi.

I came home from teaching last night, exhausted and ready to hit the sack to go to salsa but first, I ate this wonderful meal that my hubby prepared for me while I was out doing my zumba thang. It was a frying steak (it's a really chewy meat but often the cheapest) seasoned with red miso and Korean gochujang, a red pepper paste. We also had some asparagus and triple cooked chips that were amazingly crispy and delicious; god I love our fryer sometimes! 

I fully intended to go out dancing last night, even standing in the semi drizzling rain but my bus never came. Trust, I gave it about a good 15 minutes before throwing my hands in the air and returning to the couch. I regret catching up on episodes of the Jersey Shore when I could have spent the time being more useful, like reading my new book that's pretty dang good! Oh well lesson learned..

breakfast time then its the gym. I find its getting harder to become motivated to go to the gym because the weather is turning on me. It's become colder and its getting darker earlier. Time to find something else to motivate me!

Anyone else like ketchup on their eggs? Bueller? Bueller??

Agenda: gym, study, fashion night out w. the girls!!