Walk like a duck

I've been on a fish kick lately. I bought these two tilapia filets yesterday and was scared they would spoil right away so I ended up cooking both of them.

• garlic chunks
• honey
• olive oil
• soya sauce (GF and tastes like the real thing!)
• siracha
• salt and pepper

with sauteed mushrooms and brown rice on the side.

tilapia itself doesn't have much flavor so it helps to have a really flavorful marinade/sauce. Mine was really delicious!! Excuse the huge chunks of garlic but I actually like it that way. Mmmm...garlic nom nom nom :)

cup o' grapes for dessert

and since the grapes didn't satisfy my sweet tooth, I decided to break out one of these bad boys. Gluten Free Coconut Macaroons (not be be confused with these delicious macaroons).

sweet, slightly chewy in texture and a very strong coconut flavor=one delicious macaroon!

My workout yesterday was my weekly PUNCH class at Virgin Active. PUNCH is a boxing class mixed in with body conditioning exercises. Yesterday's circuit in between the punching combinations were some killer exercises done across the gym floor such as duck walks, lunges, push ups, crab walks, and bear crawls.
The hardest exercise for me was probably the duck walks. Who honestly came up with this brutal exercise?!!!

http://www.laverstokepark.co.uk/burgers/buffalo-burgers.html

After teaching Zumba, I threw in a buffalo burger from Laverstoke Farms in the oven. Buffalo burgers are leaner than regular burgers and this one was extra special because it was deemed gluten free and contained no artificial colorings or preservatives.

I needed a substitute for a regular hamburger bun so when I found these, I was super stoked. Unfortunately, they didn't taste that great and I didn't really like the texture.

gluten can appear in the trickiest of places like regular condiments!

with sauteed mushrooms and red onions

I topped the burger with ketchup and dijon mustard.. YUM!!

Bowl of fruit, eggs, and toast for breakfast then its gym time!

For my your viewing pleasure

we played a rowdy game of fetch at 8 a.m. this morning

I love my boo bear too much!! Now if only I had her tenacity and spirit in me all the time... :)

Agenda: gym, lunch, take dog to the park, go to library and study (I'm too distracted at home!!), chillax!
Such a touching video tribute: 
http://whiteonricecouple.com/films-documentaries/video-creamy-peanut-butter-pie-mikey-jennifer-perillo/

Zumba clothing love

I may have an addiction to Zumba clothing.. it's nothing serious.. YET...

I ordered these on Sunday and got my shipment on Tuesday. Holy schmokes that was fast!

After 3 orders, I've learned that all the tops run a bit small. I'm normally a medium and sometimes a large if the chest area is too tight but in Zumba gear; I'm an extra large baby!

I ordered 6 new tops and some bracelets

hahahhaa... I feel like I'm back in middle school w. these bracelets.

When I ordered this on Ocado, I thought they were for adults! Little did I know that they are specifically for little children. Organic chilli yum yum-- can't get more obvious than that..

the portion size was reaaaly tiny but the chilli flavor was spot on! I might have added some hot sauce for an extra zing ;)

GF jammies for dessert

aaand an extra portion of leftovers since I was still hungry at about 4 p.m.. No way I could get through teaching Zumba AND going to a salsa class on an empty stomach!

I got home at 11:30 after some drinks with friends and T got home at around the same time=perfect time for an almost midnight snack! Cheese and prawn omelet deliciousness..

Breakfast this morning for two..

hoping this apple with peanut butter will keep me satiated til after PUNCH class this afternoon.

Agenda: I've decided to find a football (soccer) team to follow this year. I've been in London for almost 2 years and still haven't gotten into the scene here and I'm asking myself WHY NOT!? The hubby is heavily pressuring pointing me towards supporting the Tottenham Hotspurs but I'm not sure yet.. Gotta do some of my own research!

New workout music (if you like rap!)- Bad Meets Evil 

*****Sending my love and warm fuzzies to my childhood bestie in Chicago who just gave birth to a beautiful daughter!*****

Naked, I mean Nakd

I love when I accidentally discover delicious gluten free snacks. When you are forced to follow a certain diet, it's always comforting to find foods that resembles what you were used to eating so you don't feel like you're missing out. Since I liked the cashew Nakd bar so much, I decided to try the cocoa bar and it was just as good-- it had a nice, sweet balance of chocolate and dates.

Gym time yesterday: Chest/Back/Abs, 3 sets, 10-12 reps

• Seated row (15 kg)
• DB chest press on a stability ball (5kg weights)
• Lat pulldown (20kg)
• Pushup
• Assisted pullups
• DB fly on a stability ball (3kg weights)
• side plank dips
• reverse crunch 
• straight leg up and down
• regular crunches

okay.. I might be overdoing it on the GF snacking but I can't help it! Whenever I try something new, I like to try it all :) These jammies were really good- almost tasted like the real things but this cookie was a lot more crumblier in texture.

lunch was leftover shepherd's pie and sauteed bok choy- my fav!

afternoon snack- GF veggie chips, refried beans, and salsa. My version of nachos w. out the cheese :)

Dinner: I ate this while watching Jennifer's Body- The movie was quite cheesy but I actually found Megan Fox's acting to be alright!!

leftover lamb w. brown rice

I also threw together a sloppily made caprese salad because I was too lazy to cook some vegetables...

my botched attempt at cinnamon/allspice sunny side up eggs!

After breakfast, I trekked out to the gym in the gunky weather (it's raining!!!) and ran for 45 minutes on the treadmill. I was quite happy because I got to watch rerun of the Man U vs. Tottenham football match and run. Call me a weirdo but I luuuuuurve <3 watching sports when working out. It almost beats watching Sports Center.. ..almost... It was nice doing a longer run today. I think my plan is to incorporate more cardio. Here's my tentative workout schedule for the week.

• Monday- Weights (Chest, Back, Abs)
• Tuesday- Run
• Wednesday- Punch class, weights (Legs-hams, glutes, Shoulders, abs)
• Thursday- Run
• Friday- Weights (Biceps, Triceps, Legs-quads, abs)
• Saturday- Run
• Sunday- Day of rest :)

Yuuuuumm- my smoothie was extra delicious and sweet today. I think I might like my smoothies more when I don't add any spinach to them. I'm sort of over the spinach for now..

• almond milk
• frozen banana
• frozen blueberries
• scoop protein powder
• ice cubes
• squeeze of agave nectar 
• sprinkle of cold water
• Toppings: Muesli, almonds, dark chocolate chips

 

Agenda: Study Chemistry- Hip Hip Hooraay! :-P, teach Zumba, salsa class, relax

Dinner partay

T was feeling inspired and created this amazing tasting amuse bouche- cucumber slice, Japanese spicy mayo, prawn topped with a quail egg. It was a crunchy, savory, and salty delicious bite!

fresh pesto made in a mortar and pestle.. I seriously doubted why he had to go through the trouble of making pesto by hand when it could be done so much easier with a food processor but T was quite particular about using this M&P.. maybe it's all in my head but the pesto did seem extra flavorful!

mock burrata- buffalo mozzarella cheese with smoked salmon, olive oil and homemade pesto

GF flour?! Yes puhlease! We had a menu that was mostly Gluten Free except the beers and speculoos cookies because Tarek's friend turned out to be watching her gluten intake as well. I didn't feel AS bad making T be sure not to add any gluten products.

He double fried these bad boys for extra crispiness. Bt dubs- We said it was GF, not healthy!

K.F.C. (Korean Fried Chicken) . Awesome sauce!!!

these wings turned out to be tastier than any other batch he's made. I think he finally perfected the recipe!

 

I seriously could eat a bajilion of these.. whatever a bajilion is ;)

this dover sole with shallots was super tasty but T thought it was his weakest dish. His and another person's turned out to be slightly spoiled? or at least didn't taste the greatest so he'll be writing a letter of complaint to Waitrose since we had just gotten the filets that morning. It was unfortunate because at least mine tasted good!

the makings of an Indian spiced Shepherd's pie.

After this dish came an unpictured but mightly tasty, tender, 7 hour cooked shoulder of lamb with a balsamic glaze. Yuuuuum!! It was so good I must have forgotten to take a picture.. I also forgot to take a picture of our guests. :( blergh. I need to be better about taking pictures of actual people instead of just the food. How sad I have to even think about doing that! Anyways, our dinner party was a success! It was so nice to have good company, food, and drinks all around. Even Sonoma got in on some of the action- she loves party guests!

Breakfast then its time for the gym.. I'm debating on what to do today. I'm t-i-r-e-d but thinking back and chest since my legs are quite sore still!

duck sauce egg scramble