Dinner - AnnaTheApple

December 13, 2012

Busy, busy!

Hi all! Well today Ben and me were off and won’t be back to work until Tuesday. Wheeee long weekend! Today was anything but relaxing though. We had a million things to do before we dash of to Bruges tomorrow for my work Christmas do. And, OK, we might have gone to see The Hobbit too…important things needed to be done obviously! [The Hobbit was amazing. I am a huge Lord of the Rings fan and was pleased how true it remained to the other films].

Anywho, before I go into my busy day… two lovely ladies nominated me for the Liebster award. Thank you Sandy (a great vegan blogger) and Elle (causes me to have massive food envy whenever I look at the amazing baking she does every week).

I know this is quite a late post for this as this was going a while ago..so here’s my 11 random facts about myself!

1) I eat at least four apples every day. Always chopped.

2) I have a secret love for movie music…I’m not talking about soundtrack songs, I’m talking actual original scores. Some of my favourites being Atonement, Jurassic Park, The Village, and Memoirs of a Geisha…. My favourite composers: John Williams, James Newton Howard, Hans Zimmer, Thomas Newman, James Horner… I am a film geek. And I am proud! I am a big believer that the music helps make the film.

3) I’m am always reading a book – I can’t remember a time when I’ve never not been reading something. I like to read with my breakfast – it’s my calming morning ritual.

4) When I’m alone in a public toilet and there’s music on I like to have a quick boogie while I’m washing my hands. I haven’t been caught in the act yet but I guess it’s only time…

5) Sometimes when I’m bored I daydream about end of the world scenarios. Not in a depressing way but in a ‘what would I do’ way. Like zombies attacking. What would be your first action? I’d get the family together (in my scenario we’d all be OK) and then head to the local supermarket and fill the car with tinned goods, then head to the docks, grab a boat and sail out – zombies can’t swim (or in my scenario they can’t)! These are important things to prepare yourself for.

6) I pluck my eyebrows every single night. It’s my night-time ritual.

7) I hate pasta. And not because of some faddy health reason. I hate the texture and I hate the taste. So you won’t find any pasta recipes here I’m afraid.

8) I will always wake up at least once in the night to pee. Apologies if this is TMI. I know this isn’t healthy, but I tend to have a hot chocolate before bed most nights…and well, you know.

9) I cry very easily. If Ben just mentions the Time Traveller’s Wife to me I will cry.

10) Mars Attacks caused me several months of trouble sleeping when I was younger. It scared the hell out of me.

11) If I could choose a superpower I’d be invisible. I’m so nosey, I’d love to know what celebs get up to away from the cameras!

Sooo, today. This morning I got up early and made some vegan cookies ~~in my pyjamas~~. I have never made anything vegan in my life before so this was quite a challenge to a) find a recipe and that didn’t involve crazy ingredients which I didn’t have and b) to actually make them! They’re for the cookie exchange Tamzin is hosting and my partner (Sarah) is vegan. It was fun though!

Then I got dressed…

And then Ben and I dashed off to Southampton to take back my first unsuccessful outfit for the Christmas do. We had originally bought it from John Lewis using vouchers. When we returned it we assumed we’d just get store credit – but they gave us cash back!! Hurrah! Almost like free money. Sort of.

We also picked up Ben’s suit (proper penguin suit for the Christmas meal Saturday night). Then we had a quick early lunch. Originally we were going to have Nando’s but they weren’t serving until 11.30 and The Hobbit began at just after 12 so it was pushing it too close. So we settled for Cafe Giardino instead.

A chicken, bacon, spinach and basil ciabatta. Very filling. Then we dashed off to the cinema and watched The Hobbit sharing a large popcorn. I’m sorry but how expensive is popcorn at the cinema??!!! A nice treat regardless.

Three hours later we then zoomed home to post the cookies before the post office closes and then drop Alfie off at his dog-sitters while we’re away. He’s being looked after by a lovely old lady who’ll take great care of him…but it still hurt my soul to say goodbye to him. Those big furry eyes looking at me all accusingly…

Then Ben dashed off to get his hair cut while I packed. Then made dinner.

BBQ ribs from the freezer, roasted veg and salad that needed using up. Basically a ‘I don’t have any food and am going away the next day’ kinda meal. I love ribs though so this was a winner.

And now we’re chilling. Whew.

Oh was anyone else ~~stupidly~~ excited about yesterday’s date??

And…when I went out for lunch…

I love it when this happens! It is extremely likely that this won’t happen again in my lifetime.

And because I miss him…

I won’t see Alfie until Sunday night so I gave him lots of cuddles last night before he went to sleep.

So tomorrow is a very early start. The taxi is picking us up at 6.20am and then catch a train to London and then the Eurostar to Brussels. I’m so excited about the Christmas do and looking around the Christmas markets!

Have a great rest of the week and weekend and I will write a catch up as soon as I get back

Are you going to see The Hobbit? Are you a big fan?

Do you have a Christmas party soon?

Have you been to Bruges?

December 12, 2012December 12, 2012

What I Ate Yesterday

OK, so we’re pretty much in the second week of December and I am already feeling myself winding down. Probably because I’ve got Thursday to Monday off as holiday…but then I still have to come back to work and continue until Christmas. But the Christmas atmosphere is so infectious. Everyone seems to be winding down. What’s it like where you work? Where I worked previously there was a huge amount of stress and panic to meet year end. It was non-stop. Even emails over Christmas and panicked phone calls. I hated it. I guess it’s just different businesses. Before I worked in supply chain which depends a lot on fulfilment of the last orders and getting the books nice and topped off before the next year.

But I digress…Though I’m winding down at work I’m winding up (does that work?) for Christmas. The plan has evolved from it’s original state. It was just going to be Ben and me with Ben’s mum coming over to spend the day and have lunch. Now Ben’s dad is over too (Ben’s parents are separated). I’m over the moon that we can have Ben’s dad over. I’m just now getting nervous about making lunch. Three people to feed doesn’t sound so bad…now four sounds scary. And Ben’s dad hates salad and vegetables. This changes things. I need to have a think about our Christmas menu…

Now on with the important stuff: WIAW(thank you Jenn).

Here’s what I ate yesterday and some added meals at the end that I enjoyed at the weekend.

Breakfast: are you surprised? I can’t be separated. Pancakes come and go but oats are for life. Fact.

This lasts me until pretty much dead on midday, when it becomes socially acceptable to begin lunch. I’m one of those people who can’t eat before 12, no matter how much I’m gnawing at my own hand. I don’t tend to have a snack between breakfast and lunch. I have a black coffee when I get to work and then maybe a peppermint tea before lunch.

Lunch: Two days in the working week I have home-made chilli that I make on Sunday. It’s nothing terribly exciting. Mixed beans, onion, chopped tomatoes, bell pepper, zucchini and mushrooms.

Sometimes I add some Philadelphia into it to make it creamy but I didn’t both this week as I ran out. Bad times. I had two normal Baby Bells and an apple after this. I like the goat’s cheese Baby Bells usually but again I’d run out. *Sob* Therefore a sub par lunch. But it was filling nonetheless.

Then I tend to have a snack maybe an hour later. This week I had my graze box:

I nibbled consumed all the olives. They were lovely and garlicky. Probably not ideal for work but food over friends, people. Haha I am so totally joking…Sort of. And then a bit later I had a banana and an apple.

This tides me nicely over until dinner. I arrive home at about 6.30-7pm depending on traffic (bare in mind I leave at 5pm!!! I hate my commute!! And breathe…).

Dinner: last night I whipped up a new meal heavily incorporating my favourite ingredient of the month (coconut). Tropical Nutty Baked Chicken; I used THIS recipe from Julie. But I didn’t have any lime so used lemon juice instead. I didn’t marinate for as long as I should have as I was hungry (hungry Anna = whole new personality and no friend to anyone).

I loved this recipe! The flavours were incredible and it was such a simple meal. If I was more organised I could have done a lot of prep beforehand (like pre-marinating the chicken and have it sat in the fridge waiting). I had this with steamed green beans and a lot of cauliflower mashed with mozzarella. Beasty portion.

At the weekend I’ve still been loving my lunch of sweet potato, butternut squash and coconut soup (with chickpeas).

I can’t get enough.

And I tried a new recipe Sunday night. I based it on THIS recipe.

Chicken, Soy Sauce and Plum Bake (serves 2)

2 chicken breasts, seasoned
4 plums, stoned and quartered
Garlic, diced
1 tsp. lazy ginger
2 tbs. soy sauce
1 tsp. fresh coriander, chopped

– Preheat oven 180C. Bake chicken in a little oil in a roasting tray for 10 mins.

– Take out tray and add garlic and ginger, then roast for another 10 mins.

– Take out tray again and add plums and soy sauce, roast for a final 10 mins.

– Serve with a sprinkling of coriander.

I served this will beans (again) and cauliflower mozzarella mash with added spinach. Heavenly.

And a quick update with the living room wall (after Ben’s accident with the wall and red wine). Ben spent mot of the weekend painting, bless him.

He first washed the wall (again) and then used two freebie magnolia samples to paint over the wine marks. Alfie was a big help.

Not.

And then painted the wall using a completely different colour for our brand new feature wall! Basically painting over the wall totally with magnolia wasn’t going to work as the red wine was so dark.

And finished! It really warms the room.

I went for a quick run yesterday morning…

In the absolute darkness that is 6am:

Terrible pic sorry, I just wanted to illustrate what my corner of the world looks like at the end of my run. And it was stupidly icy. Scary times.

I did plan to go today at lunch but I’ve been invited to the pub for lunch…ahh damn, what a shame… I’ll just have to run another time instead!

What are you eating today?

Pub or run, is there a contest??

What’s your favourite way to eat coconut?

Also, check out Laura’s blog for her exciting giveaway and her new amazing new website Uniquely Healthy she’s just set up. It looks great and I’m very pleased for her! She’s worked very hard and I wish her all the best.

December 2, 2012

Week Catch-Up

Hi guys, hope you’re all having a great weekend. The rain has finally stopped, hurrah! Now it’s just very chilly. But dry, so I’m happy.

This week has been busy and long but I’m starting to feel Christmassy now. Might be because at work they have the radio on and every other song is a Christmas one…it wasn’t even December yet!! I loathe to think of what it’s going to be like now we’re actually in December…

At the start of the week I had a great (but very wet) 6 mile run, and on Wednesday I went for another run at lunchtime with one of the guys I went running with on Monday; the 6 min a mile guy. I was a bit nervous just running with him alone as I knew he was much faster than me. But actually it was great. Because he was naturally faster than me it pushed me to maintain a speedy pace. He was chatting away to me while I was on the verge of dying but it was good. Hard but good. We didn’t go off road this time due to it being a lot colder than Monday and we didn’t really fancy wading in the cold canal this time. In the end we did we did a nice 5 mile route along the roads.

I was shattered afterwards! Absolutely dead. But it was good to run at a good speed for a longer period of time. Just not something I’ll do many times in one week I think! I definitely felt it the next day.

Friday I ran with a woman who had a slower pace (9 min a mile) so it was a nice easy 4 mile run. Though very cold!

I never thought I’d enjoy running with other people as much as I do. I was always so focused on my own run and hitting certain targets, but sometimes it’s just nice to have a social run! The time flies by. Maybe every run won’t be pushing the absolute limit to my capability, but it still gets me out there and I still enjoy it. Can’t argue with that!

Instead of my usual strength routines, I’m now doing one mixed strength routine and two plyometric routines. When I researched some moves and planned a routine I think I was a bit over ambitious. I thought I could do the routine three times. I barely did it twice!! It killed me. I didn’t think it’d be so hard. But more on that another time!

On Thursday I was house sitting for my parents for the night as they went off and enjoyed an evening out in London. It really stresses me out not having my own things and the same routine so I really wasn’t looking forward to it. But it wasn’t too bad in the end. Ben and me just got an Indian take-away (chicken tikka mmmm – easier than bringing food and cooking) and enjoyed watching all the dogs together. Alfie came with us and my parents have three of their own dogs.

Left to right: Lexi, Dylan, Sam and Alfie

Alfie and Lexi are the same breed (Cavalier King Charles cross with a Westland Terrier) and they go crazy when they see each other.

They love to play fight with each other and run about the house like mad things. The other two aren’t so bothered…

My parents were so lovely. They left Ben and me a HUGE box of chocolates to say thank you.

Which obviously were a GREAT Friday night treat.

Honestly, these are AMAZING. Jam Roly Pudding, Bakewell Tart, Rhubarb Crumble, Sticky Toffee Pudding, Lemon Meringue…and more!! Though after a few you do start feeling a leeetle bit sick. But so worth it.

And my new favourite ‘go-to’ meal:

Balsamic chicken (chicken fried in balsamic vinegar with a touch of sugar to caramelise it into a sticky sauce) with mashed cauliflower and mozzarella cheese. Heaven. And so simple.

Oh, and the other highlight of my week…getting in from work and getting started on dinner while Ben plays ball with Alfie. Ben kicks Alfie’s tennis ball, it hits his wine glass full of red wine, red wine sprays all over our living room wall, sofa and floor. I just love my husband.

Not sure why it went blue, but needless to say it STUNK. So we had to spend the next half an hour attempting to damage control. It needs repainting unfortunately. Though Ben loves the fact he gets to decorate. He loves doing manly things like painting and DIY. Well, there’s a silver lining for someone I guess…

What have you guys been up to?

Have you tried plyometrics before? Any tips?

November 28, 2012

Turn back? Never!

Dear Britain, please stop raining. It messes with everything. The commute is longer and more dangerous…

[Took photo while in stand-still traffic!]

…choosing an outfit (and shoes!) requires more thought [real-world issues here], Alfie has to stay in the kitchen longer after going outside… It makes for a very grumpy Anna. I wouldn’t mind if it’s really cold and dry. Rain is just so miserable. We don’t have it nearly as badly as others around the UK but it still sucks.

It also makes for very wet and muddy runs! I ummed and arr’ed about going for a run at lunchtime on Monday. I had brought in my stuff but I kept looking anxiously out of the window and watching the on-and-off rain. Also I knew the woman who had originally invited me to run with her group wasn’t in the office. So it would mean running with a bunch of guys I didn’t know as well…

In the end I sucked it up and went. The guys were still up for running despite the weather and sheer amount of rain we’d had over the weekend (“Rain? Pah! We are men!”). This time I’d decided to wear my shorts rather than leggings because my leggings just got covered in so much mud that it made more sense that my legs just got covered in mud instead and that I could wash them in the shower.

It began with a lot of slipping and sliding in lots of mud, then sploshing through fields with lots of surface water…and then we got to the path that runs parallel to the local canal. Well, where it should have been. Normal people would have seen the sheer amount of water and flooding and would have turned around. Nope. We continued on – thigh deep in freezing water. Still running!

To be honest, it was good fun. It made for a rather interesting (albeit wet) run. My feet and legs were numb, very pink, wet and muddy by the end.

But it was great! And 6 miles, which I was so chuffed with as I haven’t run that distance in a while. My Garmin died of battery though which really annoyed me.

But all the guys had their Garmins on so at least I knew in the end it was about 6 miles (we were all beeping away on the run it was quite funny).

Anyway, it’s Wednesday! So here’s my WIAW (thanks, Jenn. Check out her blog to see what it’s all about).

I’ve got a bit of a mix of meals from different days as I’ve been changing things up a bit lately.

Breakfast: On Saturday I tried my hand at some coconut and oat pancakes. *Sighs* Disaster. My first one was promising…

But then it got progressively worse. They just all crumbled. So I just gave up and threw it all into a bowl.

Despite how it looks, it tasted pretty good once I’d jazzed it up with some toppings:

I added some frozen berries that I’d microwaved with some cinnamon and then a dollop of Greek yogurt. Not too shabby for a disaster! If anyone has tips for coconut flour pancakes, please let me know! I used 1 tbs. oats, 3 tbs. coconut flour, 2 egg whites, 1/4 cup pumpkin puree and a splash of almond milk.

I also made some rather delicious coffee that we haven’t been able to try until now. We got it in America but thought it was just instant rather than ‘proper coffee’. And we didn’t have a coffee machine or a cafetiere so we couldn’t try it when we got home! But we got one the other weekend purely to try this coffee.

French Vanilla…and it tasted fabulous. Not like donuts as I think Ben was secretly hoping

Lunch: I loved the sound of Laura’s cauliflower coconut soup so I made a variation for lunch for Saturday and Sunday.

I fried a diced white onion in coconut oil, then added some diced garlic and then several large florets of cauliflower. Once that had cooked for about 5 mins, I added 1.5 cups veg stock, mixed herbs, then 1 cup full-fat coconut milk and 3 tbs. Greek yogurt. I cooked it for 5-6 mins and then whizzed it up using a hand blender. Really yummy!

Alongside this on Saturday I made some cornbread using Kelly’s recipe.

A really quick recipe using the microwave. It was lovely and light and great for dunking. I used a funny mug hence the weird shape.

And then Sunday I had the soup with some butternut squash roasted in coconut oil on the side.

These were great to dunk into the soup. Nom nom nom.

Dinner: I’ve still be clinging to my salads despite the weather, but I’ve been adding in some ‘warmer’ ingredients.

With our usual feta salad, I added more of the roasted butternut squash.

And added some roasted sweet potato to our halloumi salad…

And then a range of roasted veggies to it another night…

One night I also had some smoked mackerel that had been sat in the freezer for too long. So I added some Greek yogurt, some spices, garlic, lemon juice and whizzed it up to make a very yummy pate:

Absolutely heavenly! And so easy

Snacks: well, obviously banana bread from the weekend has been picked at…

Very yummy. Definitely need to make more breads I think. Devine.

And more of these very nice yogurts:

Basically, I’ve really had some great days of nice food (perhaps not the best looking food: pancakes, I’m looking at you) but food nonetheless.

Fitness: obviously my off-road runs have been great! And what perfect timing with the weather haha. I hope to do three of those a week with the group but it really depends on how busy work is. And Pilates on Saturday was brilliant. I’ve also switched up my strength training a bit so I’ll do an update on that soon!

Do you enjoy running off-road?

What’s your favourite pancake variation? Have you tried coconut flour?

Have a lovely Wednesday

November 25, 2012

Starbucks, banana bread and a very muddy run

Hurrah for the weekend! What’s everyone up to?

Work has been crazy lately. Looks like I’ll be in Reading for longer than expected. This is a bit of a pain as the commute is so long. But I’m loving what I’m doing so I can’t complain too much. I just get sick of the same roads and the same traffic. Anyone have a helicopter I can borrow for a few months…? No? Damn.

Friday was a pretty good day. My dad and me work together so we’re sharing the commute to Reading (take that as a plus and a minus ) and I persuaded him to stop at Starbucks just before we got to the office. He treated me to a hazelnut syrup Americano and a HUGE mince pie. First one of the season, wheeee!

It brought some light amusement of watching my dad drip coffee all over himself as I drove the last mile and a half back to work. This was just ten minutes after him telling me he had put his newly washed beige chinos to look smart…whoops

The mince pie was deeeelicious. I was chuffed for this as my Graze box didn’t arrive (*sobs*) and I needed something to fuel my run at lunchtime.

Speaking of my run, though in my last post I mentioned I was a bit dubious about it as it’s always weird running with people you don’t really know – and work with. Anyway, it was great! There were five of us in total and they took me on a great 4.5 mile route around some lakes and fields. We got covered in mud and at times it was more splashing than running but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

There was a range of running ability and this was great. One guy was super speedy – we’re talking 6 minutes a mile at his best! I started off fairly easy going running with the woman I knew and then I ventured out to run with a guy who ran at my usual pace (not the 6min a mile guy!!). This really pushed me to keep up. With the rough terrine and the speed of the run, I was pooped by the end!It’s funny because after showering and basically inhaling my lunch afterwards, I went to stand up and my calves were aching already! I’m guessing this was the crazy terrine as I’m used to plain old roads. Anyone else find this?

Saturday morning I had my Pilates class.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. It’s not a class to get sweaty and out of breath in but you definitely feel it in your muscle the next day. The class was quite small with a total of six of us. But it was a lovely friendly atmosphere and instructor is so attentive and ‘hands-on’. That sounds weird, but it really helps if she sort of guides your leg or foot or whatever to the right position as it can be quite complicated.

The rest of the day was filled with chores and looking after an unwell Ben. He does not have a simple cold, oh no. Nor is it flu. How foolish to think it would be something quite so simple. He has…Man Flu. Full on, at death’s door, incapacitated, can’t do anything Man Flu… He is currently a pathetic human being. We’re talking blankets, Lemsips, and constant sofa attachment. I am trying to be the caring and loving wife but it’s tricky as I’m not naturally sympathetic and, ladies, we all know about this Man Flu business. It’s a cold. Joking aside though, I am looking after him and he does have a waiver for all chores. Fun for me.

I did a bout of baking as well. Apparently one of Ben’s work friends finds the idea of banana bread crazy and Ben has enlisted me to change his mind. I mean, who doesn’t like banana bread??

It got rid of some dying bananas as well and it was fairly easy to whip up.

Banana bread (based on THIS recipe)

75g (1/3 cup) butter, softened
2 eggs
4 ripe bananas, mashed

110g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
125g (1 heaped cup) plain flour
100g (1 level cup) wholemeal flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. mixed spice

– Preheat oven to 180C.

– Combine butter, sugar, eggs and mashed bananas.

– Sift flours, baking powder and spices together. Then fold into the banana bread and stir until combined.

– Bake in a loaf tin for 50 mins (until a tooth pick comes out clean).

My little loaf tin struggled to contain all the loaf so I had to make mini banana loaf muffins as well. What a shame

Then we headed to Ben’s mum for dinner. We brought along Alfie as well (which is always a bit worrying as Alfie is Alfie and Ben’s mum’s house is pristine).

Apart from an accident on the carpet he was good as gold (this was mainly our fault anyway as we hadn’t let him outside before going out as it was raining so much so we weren’t angry at him).

How could I be mad at that furry face? And Alfie too

The meal was so good. We had honey smoked mackerel to start (apologies, no photo I was too busy gobbling it up). And then we had roast chicken for main with a whole host of veggies and stuffing:

Definitely a winner! Made up for enviously ~~drooling~~ seeing all those delicious Thanksgiving meals on many blogs this week.

And then fruit salad for pudding. Again no photo, but imagine a HUGE bowl of pineapple, melons, grapes, blueberries and strawberries. I love having meals at Ben’s mum’s house as she and I have similar tastes (big fruit & veggie fans). It was a lovely and relaxed evening.

So now it’s Sunday and I’m just watching the world go by while looking after the poorly husband. Well, as much as I can do while he plays on the XBox…

Hope you’re having a lovely weekend and for my fellow Britains, I hope the rain stops soon!!