WIAW - AnnaTheApple

January 30, 2013

Meat balls, running and WIAW

Hi all. Hope you’re week is zooming by and that life is treating you well

I’m feeling a certain déjà vu today…I’m off to Derbyshire again this afternoon exactly like last week. And again, I won’t be back until Friday. But it’s a good project and I’m really stretching my skill capabilities so I’m a happy bunny (a happy terrified bunny I must add, being outside my comfort level – no gain without pain I guess).

And then Saturday Ben and I fly to Bulgaria to go skiing for a week! I might have mentioned this a few times already so please forgive me, but I am SO excited. I have images of myself gliding effortlessly down huge vertical mountains with the wind in my hair. I’m guessing that reality is going to be a leeeeetle different. More like me looking like Bambi on ice. Hey, a girl can set her expectations high can’t she!?

So it’s What I Ate Wednesday. As always thank you Jenn for hosting the party!

This is what I ate Monday. It’s a fairly typical day of what I eat at work, with a rather adventurous (for me) meal in the evening.

Breakfast: no changes here I’m afraid. Oatmeal cooked with almond milk. It. Never. Gets. Old.

I have about 2/3 cup (60g) mixed with water and almond milk (more almond milk than water). I am comfortably full after this. I always think that I’m a greedy beast with this portion as other bloggers seem to always go for 1/2 cup…but it’s not about comparison!

Though last week at the hotel I did shake things up a bit and enjoyed a bit of a fry-up (bacon, mushrooms, scrambled egg, tomatoes and a black pudding). And I imagine I’ll be eating the same Thursday and Friday this week as it’s the same hotel we’re going to.

Lunch: this is my usual go-to lunch for work. Tuna salad (leaves, beet, tinned tuna, tomatoes, cucumber, steamed random veg).

It’s a monster of a salad and I love eating it at work while reading blogs. It’s like my down-time of chilling. I hate it when people interrupt me during this time. I give them the ANNA STARE. Or at least I mentally give them the STARE while I pleasantly smile at them and hope they’ll hurry up their interruption

This is following by a goat’s cheese Babybell – best flavour EVER. Sorry no picture. Imagine a little circular wedge of deliciousness.

And then fruit with plain yogurt.

This time it was two kiwis. And thanks to a post from Jemma from Celery and Cupcakes ages ago I know I can eat the skin! Lovely.

And then mid-afternoon I snacked on these:

A re-used photo, but basically exactly the same; carrots!

Then an apple and a banana about 4 o’clock to tide me over until dinner (apple and banana o’clock I fondly call this time as it’s always the same at this time).

Dinner: I was torn between making meatloaf and making burgers with some beef mince that I had. In the end I based it on THIS recipe and instead of making meatloaf (as frankly I was HUNGRY and didn’t want to wait 45 mins) I batched up little balls of the mince mixture and put them in a muffin baking tin.

Beef Chunky Meat Balls (serves 2)

500g extra lean beef mince
Half bell pepper, diced
Small zucchini, grated
Small white onion, diced
2 egg whites
2 beef stock cubes, crumbled
1 garlic clove, diced
2 tbs. Worcestshire sauce
2 tsp. dried rosemary
2 tsp. dried thyme
Pepper (don’t need salt due to stock cube)

– Preheat oven to about 180C.

– Then combine it all in a large bowl, and then make individual little balls to pop into a muffin tin.

– Cook for at least 20 minutes, or until browned all over.

Mince never really photos well…but basically you can sort of see the little meatballs. Ben and me are not usually big beef eaters, we prefer chicken or turkey. We never eat steak just because we don’t like how chewy it is. These though were AMAZING, really nice flavour.

I had cauliflower mash (with a bit of Philadelphia mixed in) and steamed veg with this. Really good filling, hearty meal. Ben loved them as well. Though he had his with ketchup. I just had mine on their own and they were a flavour sensation

Fitness: So I was really proud of myself last week because I had a great week of running. And, to bore you all to hell and back, with my Garmin on the laptop now I can really analyse my runs. Apologies now if this is too much info!!

Monday: 6 miles tempo run. I kept it slow on the first mile, then tried to keep around 8 mins/mile for the three middle miles but slowed down again at the end.

Tuesday: 4 miles interval running, with my intervals aiming at 6mins/mile.

Wednesday: rest day.

Thursday: 3 miles interval running (no details as I was a total treadmill dunce).

Friday: I had intended to just do an easy run or some rowing but I got into it and did another 3 mile interval run (and figured out how to view the summary of my run!)

Saturday: my first 10 miler. This run was one of those amazing runs when you enjoy the whole damn thing. I started off running with Ben to ensure I kept my pace down at the beginning. Then I naturally found myself speeding up after we parted (2 miles in) and I was comfortably running between 8.30mins and 8mins a mile. I didn’t feel that I was even pushing myself, it was just perfect. So I’m fairly pleased with my overall time:

My legs ached a lot after this. I went to Pilates afterwards which was really nice as it stretched my muscles out soo well. I also recently purchased a foam roller…

This was SO PAINFUL. Like good pain, but PAINFUL pain, you know. Ben thought it was hilarious but I made him have a go and that stopped his laughter. Ha. Definitely going to try and use this more as it really felt like it helped my muscles.

Though I’m enjoying my little business trips and having a change of scenery I just want the next few days to speed up so I can go on holiday!

Have you used a foam roller before? Love or hate?

Which do you prefer, meatloaf or burgers?

Do you over-analyse your work out stats?

January 2, 2013January 2, 2013

What I Ate New Years Day

Happy New Year everyone! Wow it sucks to be back at work. The alarm went off at 6am this morning, which definitely makes a change from my usual 8ish wake ups this past holiday. There’s something so indulgently lovely about opening your eyes naturally and deciding whether to roll back asleep or gently get up. The alarm screaming at me to wake up, however, was not.

Despite this, I am glad to be back into normal routine. There’s only so much lounging around the house that I can really do. I do get a bit of cabin fever. And I am back at the usual office so this means my commute is under an hour – possibly even 35mins! Not like the hour and a half (sometimes two hours) that it was when I was working on the customer site before Christmas. It’s heavenly.

Anyway, it’s WIAW – first for 2013! Check out Jenn’s blog for more details. Let’s get started.

This is what I ate yesterday, New Year’s Day, with a recap of my New Year’s Eve.

Ben and I went to our friend’s house for dinner and a games night on New Year’s Eve. It was so much fun. It was two married couples and another guy and us.

They made chilli con carne for dinner with a roasted potato and salad, which was divine (I believe they used a Jamie Oliver recipe, so perfect in my eyes!) And pudding….well pudding was a mini Eton mess with fruit on top, a lemon cheesecake and bannoffee pie. I might have had all three (half a bannoffee pie serving I hasten to add!) Well, when you’re offered… Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos as it seemed a bit rude. But I can assure you it was yummy. And I was stuffed. There might also have been a couple of cheeky G&Ts and some bucks fizz.

Then we played a quiz game which was brilliant and then Mafia. Do you know Mafia? I didn’t before playing. Two people in the group are named mafia (they find this out by what card they pick from a bunch) and thennon-Mafia people are blindfolded and then the Mafia ‘murder’ one person. Then the group has to work out who the Mafia are, and it continues in that vein…it sounds very complicated but it was actually very simple. And we had been drinking!

Then we celebrated midnight with champagne, watched some fireworks and Ben and me then had to make our journey home. We decided not to get a taxi as it would be ludicrously expensive so we walked home. All 45 minutes of it…but this was great as it sobered us up nicely. And people are so friendly saying Happy New Years even at 1.30am!

As we woke up quite late the next morning (*cough* 10.30am), I decided to skip breakfast and put our lunch in the oven ready for lunchtime…turkey again!

Oh it was so good. Turkey with onion and cranberry stuffing, roasted parsnips and carrots, broccoli and cauliflower and a dollop of cranberry sauce. Heaven. And by 1.30pm I was definitely ready for it!

Then I had some melon for pudding.

Ben and I then slobbed out on the sofa watching Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets (slowly working our way through them all again) and then I watched several Nigella cooking programmes. I adore that woman. She is just mesmerising. She can make boiling an egg interesting.

Then dinner seemed to swing by in no time (after a fair number of cups of tea). I decided to go for a lighter meal after the monster feast at lunch. So I made my new favourite meal – chicken soup! OK sorry I know this might be boring. [And apologies for the re-used photo!]

It was nice and warming. Then I had my obligatory two apples afterwards for pudding and then a bit later a packet of Snack a Jacks and a hot chocolate. Simple, but it hit the spot!

Also, I must mention this meal that I had the other day which was amazing.

Chicken rolled in chickpea flour and herbs and spices (paprika, onion powder, cumin, basil, & thyme) then fried, roasted butternut squash, steamed broccoli and then the pièce de résistance…cauliflower mashed with goat’s cheese. Ah let me tell you, this was fabulous! I normally have cauliflower mash with mozzarella but the goat’s cheese was just 100 times better.

And, thankfully, my running is getting back to normal! Hurrah! I’ve been having some issues with running since being ill in that it’s felt so hard. Like harder than normal. I couldn’t sprint or do any tempo runs. It was all about just making it to the end alive. But this morning I went for a 3 mile run and I added in some tempo bits and raced along happily! It felt like a normal run. I’m so pleased! Especially since I’m now on week two of my 12 week training for the half marathon in March. Whew.

Not my fastest 3 miles, but definitely back into a good feeling when running! I missed it so much (yes, yes I know I sound like a loony but it really makes you grateful to be healthy when you’ve been ill for a period of time).

Oh and on a side note. Seeing this as I walked into work this morning was fairly devastating:

A Christmas tree in a skip!! How soul destroying. Our decorations are still up and won’t be brought down until Saturday…I just find it so sad that it’s all over!

What’s the best thing you’ve eaten today?

When do you take your decorations down?

Have a great Wednesday!

December 19, 2012December 19, 2012

In Bruges – WIAW

Hi all. Apologies for the long delay. We got back absolutely shattered from Bruges on Sunday night and then from Monday I’ve been suffering from being ill and just want to stay in bed all day. I went to work yesterday but just felt so ill I had to come home. So I’m currently camped out on the sofa (in a ‘nest’ as Ben calls it – lots of blankets) feeling very ill and very sorry for myself.

So I’m writing this post and then going to sleep. Sounds like a plan. I thought it might be fun to do my WIAW as What I Ate in Bruges.

We got up at an ungodly hour to drive to the station to grab the train to Waterloo, to then grab a taxi to St. Pancras, to grab the Eurostar to Brussels, a train to Bruges and a coach to the hotel. WHEW!

This is us hanging around St. Pancras. I was very pleased to have that coffee!! For breakfast I grabbed a chicken wrap from M&S and some fruit. In terms of breakfast options at train stations there’s not much really that aren’t pastries or at least resemble something healthy!

As my dad works in the company as well we travelled with my parents which was nice. When we got to St. Pancras we met up with the other guys from the company and we were given a goodie bag per couple which we opened on the Eurostar. It contained sandwiches for lunch (which we didn’t actually need as the Eurostar served food), chocolates, Christmas cake and a mince pie, a Bruges guide book and champagne!!

Let’s ignore the fact that it was 11am. When the boss cracks open his champagne, you know you’re free to do the same! We amused ourselves by reading magazines, eating and playing hangman. Everyone was in great spirits (as you can imagine!)

Soo after much travelling we arrived in Bruges! And the hotel was beautiful.

On the Friday evening we had a quick wander around Bruges before showering and getting ready for our mussels and frites night out.

It was just lovely and I was very excited about our next day outing to explore the city. But first the dinner. We got dressed up reasonably smart…

And then met up in the hotel bar with the other guys who were going as well. And this is when I began drinking…I thought that I must try the beer as it’s a speciality in Bruges. However, it is very strong. I’m not usually a beer drinker but it was nice.

And then we moved on to the restaurant. The starter was like a little preparation of what was to come.

Some spaghetti, tomato sauce and a few moules. And then dinner was just a MAMMOTH bowl of never-ending mussels and chips.

They just kept bringing them out whenever we got near the bottom. And honestly, I couldn’t stop. They were so damn tasty. As were the gin and tonics… whoops. So needless to say that I never want to see another mussel again for a while at least. And in the morning I was pretty certain I’d never drink another G&T again either!!

So I woke up Saturday morning feeling a little delicate. But I enjoyed a nice breakfast in the hotel of smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, a seeded roll and a slice of fruit bread.

We spent the day walking around the beautiful buildings and streets and, of course, the shops.

We went into a lot of chocolate shops, as you can imagine…and brought a fair amount home!

We stopped for lunch in a tiny little tearoom. Tearooms were prolific in Bruges; all very small and quaint. I chose a light smoked salmon salad as I knew Saturday night would be quite a big meal.

Very yummy and freshly prepared. We then looked around the Christmas markets and partook in some more ‘must-do’ Belgium activities…i.e. eating Belgium waffles!!

It was surprising how light and fluffy it was. The texture was very pastry-like rather than stodgy pancake. I’ll pretend that made it healthier hehe. And Ben enjoyed some gluhwein (mulled wine).

I wasn’t quite ready to begin drinking just yet…

So after a quick nap, Ben and I got ready for the big evening party. We had a pre-dinner drink in the hotel bar with everyone (yes, this is how it always seems to start) and then left for the restaurant where we given champagne and canapés. Very posh.

Then we sat down for dinner to begin. You know you’re in for a good meal when there are FOUR forks.

I started with goat’s cheese tart with a mango salad.

Very yummy! Then the music started and people got up and danced, my parents leading the way!

So I obviously tugged Ben onto the dance floor too, along with all the other smiling wives and grumbling husbands haha.

Then there was sorbet to ‘cleanse the pallet’.

Then followed the main. I went for a trio of dover soles.

Then more dancing and more drinking…

And more food…

Fruit salad for pudding. Though obviously I tried some of Ben’s…

Chocolate mouse in a bauble!! The top bit was marzipan. How cool is that?? And yes, it was DIVINE. I kicked myself for not ordering it.

And, honestly, if that wasn’t enough there was then cheese. And THEN muffins and chocolates!!! I was finished by nibbling at the cheese though. I mean if anyone seriously had room for the muffins I applaud them. The person I was sat with though jokingly threw all the chocolates in my handbag. And there they stayed They are now in the fridge. Hey, you gotta take what you’re given!

So we got in fairly late after much dancing. And woke up feeling fragile…to have an EIGHT HOUR journey home (coach, two trains, taxi, another train & car). Needless to say I was in bed by 9 and fast asleep Sunday night! It was a brilliant weekend though and very lavish. I felt very lucky to be enjoying it all to be honest. I knew the parties were good as my dad has been with the company for over 15 years…but seriously, it was amazing.

Unfortunately I am now suffering from feeling very ill. I guess I partied a little bit too hard. And no, I have done absolutely no exercise since Wednesday. And until I feel better I won’t be. Humph!

Have you ever been to Bruges?

What did you get up to at the weekend?

What do you do when you’re ill? I’m just planning on napping and watching rubbish mindless TV.

October 17, 2012January 5, 2017

Holiday best eats

Happy Wednesday! Are we there already? I don’t know why but I feel in quite a happy place.

I like being back in my routine as well. Sad I know but that’s me I guess!

So for this WIAW I thought I’d do a What I ate Wednesday on our holiday that I really enjoyed (and mourn over not being able to have any more). [Check out Jenn’s blog for more info on WIAW!]

Breakfast: Though I love my porridge, IHOP breakfasts in Colorado were amazing. We went there every day for breakfast. The staff were so friendly and lovely. After the first day of us saying we were on our honeymoon they remembered us and asked each day what we were up to and divulged some inside tips.

Most mornings I’d have whole-wheat toast, scrambled egg, turkey bacon and fruit. Obviously with the amazingness that is sugar-free syrup.

But then on a day when I knew we wouldn’t be having lunch until a lot later, I went for something a bit more extravagant.

Waffles with blueberries!! Oh these were so good. I want a waffle-maker now. I don’t care that we don’t have the space in our teeny tiny kitchen. I want one.

So breakfast was pretty damn tasty. And refills on coffee. Heaven. Now, I think it’s only right that I share what Ben ate as well…purely for comparison purposes…

Yep, both those plates are his. He loved it. Apparently the crêpes were his pudding.

For lunch one day we went to a great Mediterranean restaurant (also in Colorado) called Café Caspian. Normally once a day we’d have a big meal where we’d have a starter and a main and usually that was dinner, but when we checked the menu out we knew we just had to have the sharing meze platter to start.

[Sorry for the bad photo. The lighting wasn’t the best!]

Honestly, this was epic. Hummus, sundried tomatoes, vine leaves stuffed with some crazily yummy rice concoction, olives, falafels… The only problem was that it was huge and I still had a main course to go. So we had to be selective and couldn’t possibly eat it all. So good though.

Then for main I’d gone for a salad (which after that beast of a starter I was quite relieved).

But still it was a monster! Avocado, chicken, feta, almonds, olives…all my protein in one meal basically. Honestly, I wish I could eat this every day.

Dinner: But the absolute best place we ate was in Orlando – so good we went there twice. Seasons 52.

When they seated us they asked us where we were from because of our accents and if it was a special occasion. We said it was our honeymoon. Then the waiter brought us champagne!!

So lovely (notice how quickly Ben’s disappeared haha). And the menu was fantastic. I literally could have had anything off of it. The specials change every week due to the changing seasons (hence the name), which is brilliant! For starter I had a chicken skewer with apple slaw:

It was huge though – honestly, is that a starter?? I was full when I’d finished that (too good to leave any).

For main I’d chosen a vegetarian selection platter:

How amazing does that look? There were roasted sprouts, a stuffed pepper, marinated tofu, roasted butternut squash, a wholemeal tortilla with black beans and guacamole…etc. Presentation alone ranks this high up on my list of amazing dinners. I almost (almost) regretted having a starter. I tried to eat as much of everything as I could but I’m sad to say I couldn’t eat it all – honestly, I’d give a prize to anyone who could eat both that starter and the main with no issues!

And how can you say no to pudding when the waiter brings out a selection tray to show you, despite saying “Oh no I’m waaay too full”??

And they’re only ever so tiny… This delectable delight was pumpkin pie with a ginger snap crust. Perfectly in season, wouldn’t you agree?

Needless to say I was STUFFED. Alongside my meal I’d decided to treat myself to a cocktail (because I had all that spare space to fill, you know). I went for a Superfruit Martini (Veev Açai Spirit, Pom pomegranate-blueberry juice with organic agave nectar). Seriously, that sounds like an Anna drink.

The waiter even left the cocktail shaker for me to top it up with the ‘left-overs’. I was so excited. I took a sip and almost died. I have literally never tasted anything worse in my life. It was like nail polish remover. I tried to get Ben to drink it but even he wouldn’t have it. I started to panic. The waiter had made such a song and dance about it and I had acted so excited. I just couldn’t drink it though. I thought about pouring it inconspicuously into my water but Ben forbade me (yep, forbade). So after panicking and faffing I thought I’d just tell the waiter it wasn’t my thing and apologise (I know this sounds ridiculous but the waiter had just been so lovely the whole night and was so pleased with my selection). Anyway while I was faffing, the waiter popped over quickly and said “How’s the cocktail?” and I just automatically said “Oh yes it’s lovely, thank you.” Ben just stared at me as if I’d gone mad. “Well there goes your plan”. Damn.

Well in the end I decided just to leave it and SAY NOTHING. I’m such a numpty! Looking back it’s funny now how much I panicked. The waiter probably wouldn’t have cared. But I didn’t want to look like an idiot and also have the risk of him saying he’d take it off the bill and get in trouble or something. It was my foolish mistake for choosing a martini. It’s not like it was going to taste like a smoothie, duh Anna.

So as you can see, the honeymoon was filled with massive amounts of food so many yummy foods. It’s definitely given me some inspiration to make some crazy recipes. Also made me realise I have irrational urge to eat waffles. All. The. Time. That’s normal right?

Fitness-wise…it’s been tough, I’m not gonna lie. 5.30am is not an Anna-friendly time to get up and run after being on a break for two weeks – though I haven’t slacked. But I have some plans on jazzing things up a bit so stay-tuned for a post coming up where I go into a bit more detail (including my up and coming half-marathon training plan).

Hope you enjoyed my holiday eats – I sure did!

September 5, 2012January 5, 2017

WIAW #6–Hello September

Hi lovely readers! I can’t believe it’s September. It’s just crazy how quickly it’s come around. September for me (and many others I’m sure) is a month of new beginnings or changes. School, college and university always started this month. And I loved that feeling of “what would this year bring me” and how I could make it better than the last year. Then when I left university it was when I started my first ‘proper’ job. Then it was (well, supposed to be) when Ben and I were to move out. Unfortunately the house wasn’t ready and we had to wait a bit, but it still felt like the start of something new.

But I also find September a little bit of a sad month. The summer is coming to an end. The nights are drawing in. It’s getting colder (in the morning especially). It’s dark when I get up. It’s fairly depressing. It’s only going to get worse…But let’s keep positive, people, summer hasn’t actually finished yet! It was boiling yesterday so fingers crossed it stays nice…at least until after 22nd September

On to WIAW. Thank you Jenn for hosting! And our first one for September! And the theme is ‘Good Habits’. I like this theme.

Soo breakfast…I’ve got a little bit of a problem…I’m slightly addicted to pancakes. I can’t stop eating them. The problem is though that they’re a bit fiddly to make during the week when I’m trying to get off to work quickly (bad times). But at the weekend they’re amazing. And as per my usual standard, I added a tsp of wheatgrass. Perfect green little pancakes!

I just love how fluffy they are and the blackberries just make them perfect.

And it’s not complete without a drizzle (a hefty drizzle) of PB2:

They’re not quite as filling as my usual hot oatmeal breakfast but they taste so darn good I’ll let them off.

And for lunch I’ve been cooking big batches of chilli at the weekend and then taking it into to work with me. I love cold chilli. Is that strange?

It’s always an ad hoc collection of veggies, like bell peppers, mushrooms, courgettes…anything really. And then quorn mince for protein.

I sprinkle nutritional yeast all over it and devour. Then I have a couple of Baby Bells afterwards and an apple. Really filling!

This was dinner last night. And it was sooo good. I was inspired by Meg’s recipe here.

I used 5 egg whites, half a sweet potato, sliced courgettes and mushrooms (they’re hiding) and a tbs of almond butter mixed with some almond milk to make a sauce. It’s a more healthy, but still very filling, version of pizza (I did previously try the cauliflower pizza but it took ages and this was a lot more simple).

It honestly rocked my world. I’m definitely having this again! Though you should have seen Ben’s face when he saw my dinner. *Sighs* He just doesn’t get the almond butter thing…or the sweet potato thing… Instead, I made him a tortilla pizza (safer ground for him) which he said he could “eat every single day”. I’m happy with that result!

I’ve also been using my brand new water bottle, which I love:

It’s got it’s own in built filter, how cool is that??

Moving on to fitness. I mentioned in my last post that I didn’t really enjoy my long run at the weekend. Now that I’ve changed to shorter, faster runs it’s just harder, mentally, to keep going. But at the moment I’m happy to be working on my speed and my strength training. I’m definitely seeing progress – I feel stronger, I think I look more toned. And, what I was most concerned about (and this will sound so silly), but I haven’t gained any weight. I haven’t changed my diet at all so I was concerned that by not running so much I might gain a bit of weight. But I haven’t. So I’m chuffed! Happier all round

And here’s what I’m wearing today. Nothing amazing. Just nice and simple

Cardigan is from Asda, plain white strappy top is from New Look, jeans from Top Shop.

Happy WIAW! Anyone else love trying different, healthified pizza variations?

Are you happy it’s September? Or sad summer is coming to an end?