Running out the nerves..

I needed a good run this morning to beat out any last minute nerves. My training program starts tomorrow and I admit I'm a bit nervous to be going back to "school". An 8 miler should help my restless mind.

Pre run fuel:

Ate half a banana w. peanut butter before I realized I had forgotten about something..

I bought Almond Butter yesterday at Planet Organics. Yippe!!

Love love LOVE organic stores. I could spend A LOT of time and money.

Almond butter is a great change of pace to your standard peanut butter routine. Not sure which I prefer but I was feelin the almond butter today.

Ran about 3 miles down this pathway before I moved onto Regent's Park.

Not before running into some swans. I'm mildly obsessed. A homeless man started shouting at me "why are you taking pictures of those geese!?!" Needless to say, I put on my headphones and kept running.

Today's agenda: 

Get key's made for our dog walker. YES! We found a dog walker for tomorrow. Halleluj-ER!!

Grab a quick snack at a French patisserie

Buy some pannettone for family at an Italian deli

Lunch today was at Tarek's sisters place.

Lentil soup. Very warming and comforting on a per usual rainy, windy day.

 Chicken and peppers in a cream sauce over white rice.

Kinda is a vegetarian so they made a vegetarian style chili con carne. We ate this burrito style with the works: lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, guacamole, and sour cream. I heart mexican food. The best part- you couldn't even tell it wasn't real meat!

A surprise Happy Birthday song clarinet performance by Jad. What a sweetheart :o)

Belated birthday (it was actually banoffe pie) cake for T!

Make a wish!

Dessert made by Kinda. Perfect layers of fluffy whipped topping, toffee, bananas, and graham cracker like crust. I polished off a HUGE piece.

Time to relax and think all things FITNESS!!

Song of the day: Rihanna feat. Drake "What's my name"

Not in the cards..

Today was the SECOND time I tried to go to MTV Urban Workout but ended up unknowingly doing another class. At least this time it actually WAS a dance-y type class called Body Jam. It was a cross between street dancing and jazz; think body popping and hips rotating type movements. The music was right up my alley; hip hop and latin.

Breakfast: A cute sandwich and salad bar in Camden.

http://www.reasontoeat.com/contact.html

Thanks for the reminder!

Sometimes eating lunch for breakfast is the way to go. I wasn't craving any breakfast foods so I opted for a tomato, mozzarella, basil sandwich. Yay for me. What a delicious choice.

The flat bread was so crispy and nicely toasted. The basil pesto was out of this world good!

With a side of fresh carrot, orange, and ginger juice. The ginger made my throat tingle. What a funny feeling.

After breakfast, we went to Sports Direct to buy some discounted winter workout pants, hats, and gloves. No more freezing my ass off while running in the cold!!

A rip already in my new gloves. Grrr...

Lunch: Sushi by T. Raw fish is the greatest thing on earth!!! :-D

Revisit to the local fish monger

So many to choose from

All very fresh. Our shopping bag: salmon, mackerel, sea bream, and scallops

Quick stop to the market to get some spring onions, mangoes, and avocados.

Time for all that white rice to expand in mah belly!!

500

"Eating is not merely a material pleasure. Eating well gives a spectacular joy to life and contributes immensely to goodwill and happy companionship. It is of great importance to the morale."- Elsa Schiaparelli

The waiter passed around a sampling of the black truffles they were using in their specials dishes.

A crisp, fruity, and delicious bottle of white wine.

Assortment of breads on a wooden platter shaped like a baguette. I got such a kick out of the presentation!

Salty garlic foccacia bread. Savor. every. last .bite.

Sauteed mushrooms on toasted bread with generous portions of goat cheese.

The chef very nicely portioned it on two separate plates. A+ for service (a rarity in London)

Starter pasta with monkfish, red snapper and prawns, in a light tomato based sauce. It was good. The problem I have with a lot of seafood pastas is that it sometimes tastes "too fishy". Not the good fishy taste but the cringe when you take a bite taste. This wasn't at all like that. Very pleasant to eat.

Fresh ravioli with roast duck, mascarpone cheese, cinnamon, sage, and butter. So creamy, velvety, earthy, and amaaaazing!!

Seabass fillets w. fennel, raisins, and pine nuts. The fish was very tender and flaky. T and I both agreed that the skin should have been a bit crispier.

T's lamb cutlets w. roasted squash, mushrooms, and a pistachio and anchovies dressing. I snuck in two bites of the lamb and it was perfectly cooked. The meat was melt in your mouth good. Like butta! *not that I've ever put butter in my mouth* Well.. except for this one time in college when I ate a really really hot pepper. Note to younger self.. drink milk next time!! Oh I digress...

Stuffed to the max buuuuuuuuuuuuuut..

We couldn't resist. I mean, who could say no to this?! Nougat ice cream w. crunchy carmelized hazelnuts and dark chocolate sauce.

scoop of Pistachio gelato. Pistachio is my all time favorite gelato flavor. Although this was very good, I still think the one I had in Venice tops the cake.

Just in case you missed it. A close up for the cheap seats in the back!

That's a wrap folks.

All you can eat...

Vegetarian style! I was a staaaaarving child after the gym today so I meandered my way into this place.

Doncha love it when restaurants display their food in the window to attract hungry customers like me :). I always walk by this place to and from the gym so I figured today would be a good day to try it.

They did say "all you can eat". To me it was "all you can cram into this small container"

You should never eat out of a plastic container if you can help it. Doesn't do your food justice. For me, it's more satisfying to eat from a plate.  My favorite was the purple veg. It was crunchy and had a sourness to it that I enjoyed.

Brussel sprouts. Yuuuuuum. 

I think next time I'll stay away from the mysterious looking fake meat items. They tasted alright but I felt awkward eating something I didn't know what it was.

Snack time: I'm on a tea kick. Green tea w. mint.

 

Horraaay for the weekend!!