Reflections - AnnaTheApple

February 25, 2015February 25, 2015

All the good stuff – food on holiday

Firstly apologies for truly dragging out my holiday recap posts. I still have another one to come focusing on the running and fitness side of the holiday – and my US parkrun recap!)

But OK let’s be real here, this is the good post, right? Holiday recaps are all well and good but I know for me personally I want to see what people ate. A huge part of the holiday is to enjoy the food, try new things and just eat stuff you wouldn’t eat at home normally. (To catch up, HERE’s my Orlando recap and HERE’s my Dallas recap). Apologies this is a long post!

Breakfast

If I’m honest, breakfast didn’t rock my world. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while then firstly thank you!, and secondly you’ll know I eat porridge for breakfast every single day and have done for the past 10 years. I still love it!

Also breakfast in America typically is a long way away from what I’d consider ‘normal’. Pancakes, waffles, French toast, crepes…they’re all pudding in my eyes. Sweet things so early don’t float my boat so I tend to stick with eggs.

In Orlando I ate a lot of omelettes, turkey bacon, English muffins and fruit. I’m a huge fan of turkey bacon – which in my eyes was far superior to the thin crispy regular bacon.

Breakfast in Dallas was similar but I also went back to porridge (oatmeal).

Don’t get me wrong though, sometimes we’d get a plate of pancakes for Ben and me to share so I could have a bit rather than a whole portion. Of special mention, the Corner Bakery Cafe in Dallas had gorgeous apple pancakes (left picture) and Yolk (middle picture) had a superb ‘ironman’ omelette full of veggie goodness which I added turkey bacon to.

For Ben, however, breakfast was his favourite meal. He was ALL over the sweet stuff, crepes being his favourite. The Original Pancake House in Dallas were amazing. They contacted me via Twitter and tempted us in with a free Dutch oven pancake (bottom right picture). Easily won over! It was MASSIVE and very very sweet (Ben loved it).

Lunch

Lunch is always a tricky one on holiday. Especially when you’re hopping from rollercoaster to rollercoaster. In Orlando it was usually something snacky, like an INCREDIBLE bacon pretzel from Busch Gardens.

Though one day I obviously had to visit the Whole Food’s salad bar because it is EPIC.

I can’t even tell you what’s in there. Everything pretty much

In Dallas again it was a light lunch (apart from the day we had cupcakes for lunch).

The salad of the right was enormous (that plate is more of a serving plate): feta, chicken, nuts and cranberries

We tried out the Which Wich sandwich/salad shop which was really good. You took a paper bag and it had a long list of possible sandwich or salad ingredients and you just ticked which you wanted, gave it to the cashier, paid and then got your sandwich (or salad) back in the bag (or in a container for the salad).

Dinner

Dinner was by far my favourite meal. Jamie did great research because dinner was always amazing and never the same. We had Mexican, Greek, BBQ, Japanese, Italian and seafood. I mean seriously good meals.

For the Italian, we went to a very small restaurant called Giovanni’s which was about 20 minutes out from the International Drive area of Orlando. Not being a huge pizza or pasta fan I had a gyro meat and feta salad with pitta bread (this was me taking one for the team).

It was very tasty. However the piece de resistance were Ben’s garlic knots.

At first I was like “nope, not my thing at all”. But then I tried one. Honest to god, they were out of this world, party in your mouth, life-changingly good. I’m looking at the photo now and my mouth is watering. They literally oozed with garlicky goodness. I know that sounds gross and I am not a grease fan at all but they literally melted. Kate even said that this would be her last meal on death row (hypothetically speaking). For $4 that is pretty damn good.

One of the best restaurants we went to was a Japanese restaurant called Benihana. You sat around a large grill (hot plate?) and the chef cooked your meal in front of you. It was almost like a show. The chef chopped veg so quickly, he danced eggs on his knife, threw stuff into his chef’s hat…it was brilliant.

And it tasted amazing as well. I had salmon with a mango chutney served with chicken fried rice and it was gorgeous.

Definitely one to earmark!

*Next meals vegans/veggies probably won’t enjoy – scroll down to the other red text*

A meal that required a very light lunch was a trip to Texas de Brazil – an all-you-can-eat Brazil/Texas restaurant. It is heavily meat-based as the waiters bring round skewers of different meats and carve it onto your plate…this happens non-stop.

At first I piled my plate high with different bits and bobs from the salad bar (of which was HUGE) and then I started trying the meat and realised I needed to save my stomach for the that and not the vegetables. Filet mignon (and wrapped in bacon version), ribs, lamb chops, parmesan-crusted pork loin, pretty much every cut of steak, chicken, sausages…just amazing. I.N.C.R.E.D.I.B.L.E (but fairly expensive – totally worth it though).

Obviously there was Pig Fest as well which literally rocked my world.

Ribs, beef brisket, pulled pork…heaven

And of course I had my usual turkey leg (this time from Universal not Disney) and it was amazing. All that Nando’s time has been good training.

It was a lot less greasy than Disney’s and it was more smoked, which was just so good.

***OK for vegans/veggies to return!***

Other great meals were a delicious Greek feta salad, crab, a Mexican tortilla bowl salad, an incredibly HUGE salad from CowFish (great restaurant giving options of both sushi and burgers, yes I know I had a salad but I walked past a lady having one and it was massive and I was sold there and then – I couldn’t even finish it!).

Top L-R: Crab from Joe’s Crab Shack, feta salad from Greek tavern, chicken salad from Cowfish, Chicken tortilla salad

Well, I can’t deny I am a salad muncher and love American salads as they’re always huge with lots of toppings. But it wasn’t always healthy food…

Froyo became an almost daily thing. Kate and Jamie fully got involved as well, originally not knowing much about it.

We developed ways to get the best from those self-services – chosen sauce at the bottom, few sprinkles of ‘toppings’, then layer of froyo, then more sauce and more toppings, final layer of froyo and then more sauce and toppings. We nailed it.

We also went to Cold Stone Creamery a few times (introduced to us by Kate and Jamie), which was just incredible. Weirdly I had the best apple of my life there…

Ben had some seriously good ice cream as well (they literally roll out the ice cream on a cold stone and mix in incredible things like an entire piece of brownie and stupid amounts of sauce and toppings). But I saw the rows of candy apples and I was sold. My apple was dipped in toffee, then icing and then rolled over a crushed Heath bar. ROCKED my world in a big way. They even sliced it for me. I had no problems finishing it.

Other tasty treats included a WEDGE of red velvet cake and churros at the cinema (Ben and me shared both these things and promptly fell into a sugar coma), frozen custard, a huge slice of cheesecake Ben and I shared one evening and the best ice cream of my life (top line).

The ice cream was from a parlour called Sh-Booms & The Oldies. I had caramel pecan and peanut butter bomb. Just enough PB for me but it truly was the best thing ever. Better than Ben and Jerry’s! The place was very small but very cool (it looked like it was in the 1950s with the decor) and the manager was the nicest man in the world – really jokey and chatty and let us try so many flavours.

And finally, in Dallas one day we decided to have some cupcakes for lunch from a place called Trailer Cakes and they were FABULOUS.

We had three mini cupcakes each

We definitely pigged out ate a lot more in Orlando than Dallas and this was mainly because we were with friends and these things happen. At the end of our time in Orlando we both felt bloated and a bit sick and tired of food so Dallas was a bit lighter on the big meals. I probably overdid the ribs in Orlando (having had them three times) so didn’t quite feel the urge to have them again 😉

Apologies for such a long post!

What’s your favourite meal on holiday?

What are your favourite holiday treats?

Are you a meat lover or a carb lover on holiday? For me it’s all about meat as I find things like brisket, ribs and pulled pork a nightmare to cook.

January 7, 2015

Don’t be afraid to make a change

Nothing brings you back to reality than Monday traffic and your first day back at work or school. The holidays are done and dusted.

I’m actually OK with going back to work. The cynical among you might think that’s because in less than three weeks until I’m off to Florida and then Dallas with Ben. You would be right. But remember, I then have a long year ahead of me!

Just before Christmas, when very few people were working, I experimented with my desk at work by putting an Amazon box underneath my laptop to give me a standing desk. When I work from home this is standard practice for me. Sitting down all day long is not healthy, even if you’re active (here’s a depressing read on The Guardian if you want to read more).

I wear a Vivofit to monitor my steps and always ensure I’m over 10,000 a day – usually 12,000 is my average. I give Alfie a 30-40 minute walk in the morning sacrificing a bit of sleep time for some peaceful morning walking listening to a podcast or just music. It’s very refreshing and gets me ready for the day, not to mention by the time I get to work I’m on 5,000 steps already. I try to walk a lot during work (lots of drinks and subsequent loo visits help with that) and make sure I go for a 20 minute walk at lunch time. But I still sit from 8am commuting an hour, then 9am until 5pm working, then another hour commute home. Then watching TV or chilling on the sofa at home. That’s over 10 hours of sitting every week day. You can’t deny how unhealthy that sounds.

So I made a change. I made myself a standing desk in the office. There were few people in the office at the time and it was only one day before we went off for Christmas. But I vowed to myself to continue when I got back. On Monday the office was full, I set myself up and started work. I won’t lie, I felt extremely embarrassed stood there with my make-shift desk with everyone else sat down around me. People obviously started to notice. When they asked me what I was doing I explained my reasoning. And you know what? They got it. OK they’re not all creating their own standing desks but they understand why I want to do it and no one thought I was stupid or laughed at me (actually they know what I’m like so it probably came as no surprise).

I now stand at my desk from 9am until lunch when I go out for a walk, then I sit down for an hour to eat (which is so lovely by the way – it’s nice to appreciate being sat down!) and then stand again until 5pm. Originally I was aiming for 4pm but it’s actually not too tough. I take little ‘breathing’ breaks every now and again where I sit down, have a look at my phone then stand up again. The hardest part is not letting myself slouch when I stand.

The benefits? I feel more alert at work. More focused. My posture is so much better. My legs feel loose rather than stiff. In fact my whole body feels better. I enjoy my commute more 😉

My point is, my health is number one priority to me. Work takes up a very large part of my life and I’m conscious that just because I’m at work it doesn’t mean I can’t also look after my health too. Who knows if this is why I’m always injured? This is something I’m doing for me regardless of what people might think. I’m lucky my work is quite casual in this respect as I can understand in certain offices this might not be allowed. But as I can, why shouldn’t I?

Have you ever made a change to your life for health reasons? OK this isn’t a huge change in the great scheme of things but it does improve my health in the long term!

Do you sit a lot during the day? At the weekend I’m always on my feet but in the week it’s so different (or at least it used to be).

January 2, 2015

New Year – new me? {And a giveaway!}

Happy New Year! I won’t do a “year recap” post as I personally find them a bit dull. Also my year wasn’t the best if I’m honest.

Yes I know I ran two marathons and I’m so proud of myself and pleased that I got through them (especially considering I didn’t do ‘proper’ marathon training for either). And a few other races were good experiences too but on the whole and everything in between, it sucked in terms of my running. One injury to the next, one rubbish run to the next.

But 2015 is going to be better (ahh, haven’t we all heard that before in January, eh??) I don’t really do New Year’s resolutions but I have some rough goals that I’m keen to stick to this year to help make 2015 better than 2014.

What I came to realise (and probably must be quite clear as an outsider I suppose) is that running took over things. I’d almost say it consumed my life. I got very down when I couldn’t run and everything I was looking forward to was to do with running. Every goal I had, every plan in the diary. Having now not run since November I feel (and this is going to sound really stupid and weird) free.

All races planned for this year (including London) have been put to one side and I’ve stopped thinking and worrying about them. Who knows I might run them or not. I frankly don’t care at the moment. Without any pressures on me the need to get back into running has disappeared. I’m satisfying my need for exercise by going to spin (I have a love hate relationship with that brutal class), pump, circuits and all the other crazy classes I’ve tried over this break. I feel stronger and my general fitness is still there and I can go to the gym however many damn times I like in a week without worrying I might break. I’ve even been doing double classes some days – because I can. (Don’t worry, I’m still very much balancing all this exercise with cake).

And this made me realise that I can easily give up running for a bit and still be fit, healthy and more importantly happy. Obviously I do want to run at some point – and though I’m not running right now I am still very much a “runner” in my heart and always will be. But my goal for this year is for it to not be all I do. I want to keep going to the gym, working on the weights and my strength, and going to spin, but running when I fancy. The mistake I made last year was quitting the gym as soon as I was back into running, which doesn’t work for me. So that’s my goal in a nutshell! That and eat less cake. Nahhh scratch that actually, less cake would make 2015 truly rubbish.

On to the giveaway! The lovely people at 9Point9 have sent me two of those very cool Zephyr Fire 100 hand torches (normally £44.99) made by Nathan Sports to give away to TWO of my readers.

I did a review of this product a few weeks ago which you can check out HERE. Basically it’s a hand-held torch so when you go running (or walking!) in the dark you can shine the light in front of you to see. It’s also USB rechargeable which is immensely useful as batteries truly suck. It also has a button on it to sound a siren if you’re in trouble.

To been in for a chance, just leave a comment below saying why the hand-held torch would be useful to you! I’ll announce the winner 12th January. Good luck!

Do you make New Year’s resolutions? What are they for this year?

Did you achieve last year’s resolutions?

How do you achieve a balance with exercise? Is it all one sport or do you vary what you do?

***Full Disclosure: I was sent the two Nathan Zephyr Fire 100 products for free to giveaway to two readers***

December 22, 2014December 22, 2014

Secret Santa, Christmas cake and the re-balance of love

Three. More. Days. Then Christmas! I’m still at work for these days but I’m not too bothered. My commute is always a dream when the kids are off school and it’s very quiet in the office at the moment.

Our weekend was fairly low-key. I’ve been cleaning the house so it’s all nice and clean ready for Christmas. Not that we’re having Christmas at our house as we’re going to my parent’s house with Ben’s mum for Christmas day there. But I just like the house being clean around the holiday time, you know? I also borrowed my parent’s steam mop so I could give the kitchen and bathroom’s floor a good clean. Lovely.

Saturday morning I went to Spin. I’ve mainly been focusing on strength-based classes (such as pump and circuits) but I want to get my fitness going again. I had been dreading going but I went to a class on Friday morning and actually it wasn’t too bad. I mean, it was hell but it was less hell than I originally thought. Saturday’s morning class went the same way and I’m slowly getting addicted to it again. After that I did 20 minutes of strength work on my own. Bits and pieces like single leg squats, single leg decline squats, resistance band work such as clams, crab walk and monster walk. All good work on the glutes!

Then I dashed off to parkrun to meet up with my running club who were doing Secret Santa. I am really quite pleased with the present I was able to come up with for my person. I used a shoe box and put a load of tissue paper and shredded paper in it.

I then filled it with lots of running bits and bobs. I labelled the box “Runner’s Survival Box” (inspired by lots of the subscription boxes around at the moment).

In no particular order, it contained:

Little packets of Haribo – for quick release energy
Salted peanuts – for salt and protein (muscle repair)
Bottle of Powerade
High5 gel
Ibuprofen (always a necessity…)
Blister plasters (aka nipple guards)
OTE sachet (review HERE)
PowerBar Wafers (review HERE)
Cake

I had quite a few of the items anyway at home but what I had to buy was all under £5 so it was a really cheap and easy gift! When it was given to the man in question I sneakily watched him open it and he looked really chuffed and found it quite amusing. I was really pleased!

For me I was given a few bits and bobs that all around a certain theme.

Shower gel, shampoo, apples and a notepad inside an apple

I think they were aware that I’m an apple fan 😉 I was quite pleased I must say.

After that I zoomed home and we spent the day cleaning and tidying. And maybe watched an episode of Gogglebox that we missed (hilarious). We also marzipan’ed our Christmas cake (yes I’m well aware of how close we’re cutting this!)

We had to carve the top bit off to get a nice straight finish and then got down to the fun part. Rolling out the marzipan and layering it on top of the cake (after coating it in apricot jam – for the recipe we used for the cake go HERE). Not to shabs, eh? Excess marzipan was put to good use of course.

We always hope to have a bit left over so we can make a few marzipan treats that can be nibbled on over the next few hours days.

Then we got ready to go out for a Christmas meal with some friends.

I haven’t worn heels in so long… It was nice to get all dressed up for once!

After being really excited about my impending turkey dinner, I was aghast to find out that I’d actually ordered salmon earlier in the month when we RSVP’d. I mean, what was I thinking?? I did not fancy salmon at all. My loving husband, who had the sense to have ordered turkey, decided to swap his meal with mine though. Now THIS is love. He said his motivation behind it was because a few Christmases ago I had asked for his last parsnip and he refused to give it to me and ate it quickly himself. I told him that that just showed the limits of his love for me. I always hold this against him saying that he loves me, but not enough to give me his last parsnip. But now the balance has been readdressed. Though he did look rather self-satisfied and smug about the whole affair. I think I was happier before having this one-up on him 😉 (Though the turkey was delicious…).

I wasn’t drinking as I was driving but Ben was having a merry time, and with one of the other guys had decided to make it their mission to acquire free shots from the manager. From my and the other guy’s other half’s perspective this was all rather mortifying. After a few rather lame failed attempts they decided to work harder. The other guy was able to make origami swans and he kept making them and giving them to the (female) manager, each time the swan was getting smaller and smaller and the manager was getting more and more exasperated (but in a fun way, she wasn’t genuinely annoyed I don’t think). But then the piece de résistance:

I mean that is TINY. And when you put the tail the wings flap. Incredible. After that she did indeed get them a free shot each. Well played, boys!

Sunday was a nice chilled day. I went to Spin and then Legs, Bums and Tums in the morning (I’m becoming a rather obnoxious gym addict now sadly). Then spent the rest of the day not doing too much other than walking Alfie, wrapping presents and helping Ben make a stollen (more on that in another post as this has gone on far too long now).

Are you off of work/school now for Christmas?

Do you make or buy a Christmas cake? Or forgo it completely (scandalous!)?

Are you a fan of Secret Santa?

December 17, 2014January 14, 2015

Rants and Raves #5

And we’re mid-week! Hurrah! Can you believe it’s Christmas next week – as in next week? I’m pretty much in the “I love Christmas, it’s my favourite time ever” camp so I’m fairly excited right now. I know some people aren’t as keen on Christmas and it can be quite stressful, but I just really enjoy it – the atmosphere, family time, food (ALL THE FOODS), friends, music, films…I love it. Anyway, on to my rants and raves!

Rave: And on the theme of Christmas… Christmas jumpers! I’m a jumper lover and it really appeals to me on two levels: it’s Christmassy and it’s warm.

From Matalan

Rant: Ben pretends he doesn’t like Christmas jumpers but I’m convinced there’s an excited little boy in there somewhere…

From Tesco

I’m sure he loves wearing it really. But anyway, Christmas jumpers are amazing. It’s sad they’re only really socially acceptable around Christmas. And I lost my last jumper as I thoughtfully put it away last year…to an unknown location.

Rave: The gym! OK it is early days but I’m really enjoying the variety. I did (my gym’s version) of body pump, which isn’t the Les Mills one but is a very similar concept, at the weekend. The class worked on muscles that I had long been neglecting: shoulders, back, triceps, biceps, chest…it’s been a while. And my body made me full aware of that the next day as I was hobbling around like a 90 year old woman struggling with simple activities.

I also did a class called Pure Blast. It was 30 minutes of high intensity exercise. Basically you either sprinted on the treadmill or cycled madly on the bike for a set amount of time, then did a series of exercises like squats, burpees, sit ups, lunges, etc. before getting back on the bike. Non-stop for 25 minutes (5 minute cool down – or in my case, collapse on floor). This was followed by a core class which was run by the same ~~monster~~ guy. He did a very similar concept whereby you did a certain core move a set time and then moved quickly on to the next move. After peeling myself off the floor I realised I quite enjoyed it. My body didn’t know what had hit it – there was just so much variety!

Rant: My gym, I won’t lie, is one of the cheaper gyms (PureGym) but works brilliantly for me. It’s open 24 hours a day and has loads of different classes which are perfect for my schedule. It’s also massive so there’s never a chance of not getting a machine or set of weights. However it isn’t glamorous by anyone’s imagination and some people who go there (I am heavily generalising here as I know a lot of nice people who also go there) can be a bit intimidating and, for want of a better word, are a bit “rough” (I fully admit to to being a snob). This was proved as I came out of the gym and was cat-called by a bunch of guys also exiting. Me quickening up to get to my car just heightened their calling. Lovely.

Rave: Alfie. Need I say more?

Alfie gives me hope that one day when I become a mother (*heart palpitations begin*) I will sink into the role easier than I think. I just love this fur ball more than words – even if he does decide to poo when his walk is 99% over and we’re well and truly past the poo bin.

Rant: OK this is something I’ve been meaning to post about. When Ben went to China (and Hong Kong) he asked me if there was anything I’d like him to bring back. I said some Chinese sweets as I was intrigued what they’d be like. Verdict?

Not sweet at all. In fact, there were these so-called ginger sweets (actually I have no idea what they were called at all as the description is in another language) which blew my head off! The after burn was ridiculous. I was bitterly disappointed. You live and learn.

Rave: Hey check me out posting not one but two ‘outfit of the day’ photos in one post! I used to do this a while ago but then stopped because…well, I’m actually devoid of any style and my clothes are quite boring. But I was quite proud of this outfit. If you think it looks stupid/ugly, please don’t tell me as I want to continue to live in my fantasy world… 😉

Jumper from Matalan, skirt very old stolen from sister years ago, socks from River Island, necklace and boots I can’t remember (this is possibly another reason why I don’t post my outfit that often)

I much prefer summer to winter but winter does have the benefit of long boots and layering. And long socks! They were so toasty. Almost typed “tasty” (food is never far from my mind clearly).

Rant: Working from home is amazing. However deciding to “chance” doing an update on my computer in the morning before I started work was not wise.

I started it at 8.30am and it didn’t finish until 1pm. I kid you not. I felt terrible because obviously I couldn’t do any work. My manager was aware and it had happened to someone else in the office the other day so it wasn’t really an issue. I pottered about doing chores and bits and bobs. I suppose you could say that’s a good thing – but I’m the type of person who when genuinely sick and can’t go to work is convinced they’ll think I’m lying or taking liberties. I hate people thinking I’m dossing about or not doing my job. I got what I needed to do done for the day though so it wasn’t too bad in the end.

Rave: I’ve done my one month free of Kindle Unlimited. I downloaded (for free) and read Thorn Birds (wowza is that an epic love saga or what! Slightly creepy as well) and the The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window (absolutely fantastic – very dry and sarcastic humour but this really appealed to me).

I also downloaded Life of Pi and Great Expectations as audio books and listened to these in the car on the way to and from work. I loved Life of Pi and really recommend it. I chose Great Expectations as I don’t think I’ve read a Charles Dickens before and thought I really probably should. It was over 11 hours long though!

I decided I was going to cancel my Kindle Unlimited account though as I didn’t think £7.99/month was worth it. I do read a lot of books but I usually aim for the cheaper ones and there wasn’t enough audio book selection to keep me interested there. This meant that I had to listen to Great Expectations quite often towards the end of the free month as when you cancel Kindle Unlimited they remove the Unlimited content from your devices. Though I’ve managed to duck this so far by not connecting my Kindle to WiFi (sneaky, sneaky), but for my phone (where I listen to the audio books) this was impossible.

Anyway long story short: I enjoyed Kindle Unlimited but I’d prefer to spend £7.99 a month at Audible where you get a free audio book from a huge selection every month. I did enjoy Great Expectations though – even if Dickens often decided to use 12 words when one would have sufficed.

Do you enjoy reading/listening to audio books? I love getting through twice as many books by using my ‘dead time’ when I’m commuting to listen to something.

Have you ever tried “foreign” sweets before? Generally I’ve had good experiences but I think this is because I’ve always had more “Westernised” sweets.

Are you a Christmas jumper lover or hater?