Carnival 2011

Getting ready for the big day... Halloween 2011 baby here we come! Although, by the looks of it, Noms is not quite sure what the big fuss is about!

Twerk work it girl! Work it!!  :)

Over the long bank holiday weekend, I made 2, yes ya heard me right-TWO trips to Carnival

We figured it was such a nice Saturday (minus the brief scatters of rain) that it'd be a shame to miss such a huge event. It was nice, especially after the violent rioting to see so many people gathered in one place getting along.

I’m not gonna lie tho, all you need is one day to experience all the music, food, and loud atmosphere!

Big OOPS of the day- I got suckered into £12 jerk chicken the moment we arrived at the festival. Okay so I admit I had the chance to walk away once she told me the price but I seriously was such a chicken (no pun intended) to tell her NO! Blergh.. most places were selling meals for £5-10.

I broke my GF diet to eat this delicious flour Jamaican beef patty that was O' so delicious! Mmmm MMMM how I missed that wonderful taste of white flour!

Everything we ate was so freaking delicious!

random dog shot!

I love everything about Jamaican food; the spices, jerk rub, plantains, rice/beans and the curries! Yuum!

Woo hoo!! I found salsa dancers :) :) This scene makes me so happy!

I had to answer this question "What do you love about London?" to get this vuvuzela. Uhm, I love everything from the dining scene, music, culture, and travel accessibility. I've pretty much fallen in love with London and don't ever want to leave!!

WORD!

There were a ton of music stations blasting all kinds of music from house, rap, and hip hop.

POOH, is that you!?!? I'm such a 5 year old girl sometimes..

Back to basics: I must have been missing some of that spicy food because I was craving hot sauced eggs in the morning! lol..

Bt dubs- don't ever run on a full stomach DUH!! I ran 30 minutes huffing and puffing along... I think my inner (sometimes outer) dialogue went something like this "you can do it", “just a few more minutes","come on Hanna, push yourself!” "CHANGE IS UNCOMFORTABLE!!!!!”

Back to the Carnival we go!

I didn't take many pictures since I took SO many unnecessary ones on Saturday. They all ended up looking the same; lots of unknown faces and huge crowds but hey, I know these ladies!

We did the walking, dancing, and eating thang for a few hours then left with the intention of seeing One Day.  On our way out of the Carnival, we ended up at a yummy gelato place called Dri Dri in Notting Hill.

I got a compow of two flavors- salted caramel and pistachio (my usual go to). Delish!

Theeeeeeeeeeeeen the ladies decided they needed one more sweet fix stop! Maison Blanc it is! Three desserts were ordered to share but I unfortunately had to pass since they weren't gluten free. Sad face :(

the whole not eating part didn't stop me from taking pictures of these wonderful creations!

Loooove the beautiful colors!

Strangely, I was ravenously hungry when I got back home later that night.. Imagine that!

Dinner was a bunch of leftovers from the weekend.

lamb to put on top of the hummus

goat cheese naan

falafel and curry shrimp rice

Guess whose plate is for me.... maybe the red stuff will give it away!! I also had some GF garlic and coriander naan that was just okay by itself but tasted even better with hummus.

Breakfast this morning then GYM TIME!

In the oats mix:

• 1/3 cup GF oats
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup almond milk
• banana
• agave syrup
• sprinkle of cinnamon and a pinch of salt
• toppings: dark chocolate chips, spoonful of almond butter

Abu Zaad

 

 

 

 

 

falafel- deep fried balls made from ground chickpeas

http://www.abuzaad.co.uk/
I can say bye bye to these suckers on a GF diet!! Sad because I heard they were pretty good.

nice and salty halloumi cheese

Tabbouleh- Finely chopped parsley, tomato, fresh mint, onion, a touch of white pepper and crushed wheat mixed with olive oil and lemon dressing

Its so sad when you can't dip any naan into hommous! :( I was totally going to bring my own GF ones and sneak it under the table but I forgot, hehehe ;)

the mixed grill platter was slightly disappointing-- the meat was over cooked and didn't have that juicy, tender flavor that most mixed grills we've ordered had!

Kabseh with Chicken:
Rice, chicken, sultana, onion, served with salad or yogurt.

We ordered some Afghani rice sweetened with raisins and spices (YUM!) and tender chicken. I thought this was the best dish.

Overall, I thought the food was good but do I think it was worthy of 4 stars by Timeout???? Probably not..
http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/venue/2%3A27134/abu-zaad

Samba Swirl

http://www.sambaswirl.co.uk/index.html

Frozen yogurt my love!!!

When I went back to Chicago in May, the only thing missing in my life when I came back was self serve frozen yogurt and my family. I had a hunch that it would come over to London soon enuff and here it is! Sweetness!!!

We just happened to be on a bus on our way to lunch when I saw someone handing out free yogurt samples. I told T that we would be making a stop here on our way back but little did I know that it was going to be SELF SERVE (or else I would have made him get off the bus at that moment! ha!).

flavors- peanut butter, dulce de leche, and vanilla
toppings- strawberries, mango's, pineapples, pecans, dark chocolate chips, and sprinkles

YUM, IT WAS JUST AS I HAD EXPECTED IT TO BE-----AMAZEEBALLS!!  :-) :-) :-)

Dinner last night was takeaway Korean food. Everything was good but not great.

We had dak bulgogi (Korean style bbq chicken), beef bi bim bap, and shrimp tikka masala that the hubs prepared on the side.

spicy veggie sides because of course what would a Korean meal be without the staple kimchi!

Our night consisted of watching The Other guys and then falling asleep reading in bed :).

cheesy but I found myself laughing almost the whole time!

Breakfast then its gym time!

I tried another GF bread but this time it was from Sainsbury. I think I almost prefer this one to the other brand because it didn't have a strong rye bread taste like the other one did. I appreciated the more subtle flavor.

I swear I'll master sunny side up eggs one of these days! I almost always end up undercooking the egg whites and overcooking the yolks.. bah!!

At the gym yo: I concentrated on my legs and shoulders, 3 sets, 8-10 reps

• step ups 
• seated dumbbell overhead press
• walking lunges
• barbell upright row
• standing hip extension on pulley machine
• standing dumbbell lateral raise
• quadraped hip extensions
• rear deltoid flyes on stability ball

 

Check out that amazing purplish/blue color! In the mix:

• almond milk/soy milk
• frozen banana
• 3/4 cup blueberries
• agave nectar
• scoop of chocolate whey powder
• toppings: 2 tablespoons of maple cranberry muesli and a tablespoon of dark chocolate chips

sigh... no more beer (Gluten alert!!) for me but at least T still gets to indulge..We tried a new Japanese restaurant in Angel on Essex road called Akari . He was super excited because they had Japanese beer on tap.. psh! Ask me why I care :-P Okay, it was still pretty cool because Akari used to be a pub and it still looks like one from the inside out. Quite an interesting Japanese dining setting.

 

We started with a wonderful strong flavored miso soup

deluxe sushi platter- fresh fish nigiri that included UNI!!

I ate everything aside from the fried shrimp tempura roll (fried foods=gluten!)

spicy tuna handrolls- It tasted differently than all the other spicy tuna handrolls I've had. T mentioned that it tasted pretty vinegar-y but I still thought it was delicious!

boiled chicken bowl with a sweet, amazing tasting broth and caramelized onions.

I stopped into Planet Organics to do a little perusing of the aisles for GF products. God, I love health food stores.. aaaand did I tell you how much I love health food stores?? If T wasn't with me, I probably could have spent hours in this tiny grocery store (lots of different and unique products!!)

I only bought 2 things (I could almost feel the hubs gawking, mouth gaped open at all the higher marked goods)

I bought coconut oil to try out because I read and heard nothing but great things about coconuts. Here's some health benefits of CO! 


Song of the day: Beyonce "Best Thing I Never Had"