Day 24 - Super Fit Sunday

Today I have been overly energetic and weirdly not as hungry as I supposed I should be.  I skipped breakfast to fit in my Wii Active session before I was due to head up to the gym with my little sis.  It would be our first session!  Well this was the plan, it was all going fine up until my little sis had car troubles which set us back an hour or so.  However, she got here in the end and we walked to the gym.  We only joined today so it was impressive that we were able to go immediately - big up to The Gym Group. We did a good little workout of 45mins cardio on the running machine, cross trainer and rowing machine and 30mins on the various weight and toning machines before laughing at our attempt to do sit-ups with a medicine ball.  It works the stomach I can tell you!  It was a good session to ease ourselves into the whole process and one of many to come I hope!  It's very good to spend a little time with family and I love the fact that A lives so close at the moment.

Gym over I headed home as the stomach was getting fairly famished since it was now around 3pm.  I stopped for a sushi hit from the supermarket.  I know it's not good sushi in any respect but a little guilty pleasure of mine that I indulge in from time to time. Especially if it is adorned by a little yellow sticker...

Anyway, real food was needed but sweet potatoes were done and dusted so I had a little left over veggie moussaka and small baked potato with salad. It hit the spot but not the sweet tooth so I followed it with a scoop of Carte D'Or ice cream and Leibniz chocolate biscuit.  This little concoction comes in at only 100 calories so it's great for my frequent after-dinner sweet craving.

I then settled in to watching 20 episodes of a show I'm interviewing for on Tuesday.  I made copious notes and a little excel spreadsheet and at 8pm I was very thankful to be finished.  A little more brushing up and collating everything tomorrow and I should be fully prepared.  However, because of all this work I've not thought about dinner.  Actually that's a bit of a fib I have thought about it but at the moment a Pea Risotto with Bacon isn't exciting me.  Not sure what to do. Gerry is back from work in around 30mins and may well have eaten already so it seems it might just be a bacon sandwich or something.  Not the satisfying food I normally have on a Sunday I know and I do feel slightly disappointed by the lack of something to look forward to...

Gerry arrived home, not fed, so I threw some noodles, veg and chicken in a pan for a 'street-food' style Thai stir fry, my version of Kway Teow Mae.  I threw in some sliced red bird's eye chilli, chicken,  few prawns, crushed garlic, some beansprouts, flat noodles and some soy sauce.  I fried this all up in a wok with a little groundnut oil, garnished it with a lime and Bob's your uncle all done. Quick, easy and delicious.

Thai Noodles

Day 21 - A Bit of Detective Work

I had an early morning meeting today, which was good as it meant I had to get up early and get on with the day. It really has turned bitterly cold here and even though I know this I still tend to dress as though its autumn. Foolish I am. Anyway, since it was so cold I didn't linger in town like I had planned but headed straight home for a hearty breakfast of porridge and honey.  I find it pretty filling and rather comforting, which is something that I need during the day at home when the temptation to nibble on fridge items is more than compelling. I skipped through the job sites and settled in to peruse what might be out there. Very little it would seem. In the background I managed to keep half an eye on the newest series of Monk.  It is the final series of Monk, one of my all-time favourite detective shows, only narrowly beaten out by Murder She Wrote.  No one can beat Jessica Fletcher! However, thus far I have been unimpressed with Series 8. Don't get me wrong Tony Shalhoub and Traylor Howard still do a fine job but the storylines have been far from engrossing.  Still we are only on episode 3 of 16 so there is room for improvement, plus we will finally see the wrap up of the murder of Monk's wife Trudy right back at the start.

Monk finished I scavenged in the cupboards for all things lunch. I decided I should use what I had rather than going to the shops, so I ended up with a favourite of Bacon and Avocado salad with a sweet potato. It was yum and filling. However, since I was fairly famished I chose to do the bacon in the microwave, purely for speed. I laid out two bacon rashers on paper town in a Pyrex dish.  Marco Pierre White apparently heralds this method as the best way to cook bacon but Marco I disagree.  Perhaps it was the bacon I used, back rather than streaky but it curled and didn't crisp up. It was tasty enough but I think I should have put more time into doing it on the grill.  Still lunch was a quick and painless affair which is always good news.

After an adequate amount of time had passed I completed Day 16 of the Wii Active Challenge. I think my leg muscles are certainly stronger, at least I will have achieved something in January!  I also took a trip out to discover and research my new local gym opened by The Gym Group. It's so cheap at only £15.99 a month, with no contract.  Perfect for me, who at the moment, can't commit to anything long-term. I went with my little sis as we both plan to join together. It was a good, open-plan gym, that was functional and clean with good light. A and I will be signing up and attending our first session on Saturday hopefully!

Gym sorted, I set about tracking down all the ingredients I needed for dinner. I was planning to use up some of the remaining miso paste I had from sushi Saturday and doing a new favourite in our house - Nasu Dengaku. I wasn't able to get Japanese aubergines so I had to go with a Spanish import instead.  Being slightly thicker in size than a Japanese aubergine it needed a stint in the oven as well as the grill to make it tender enough. I borrowed the recipe from Momofuku for 2 and it really does work very well. I implore you, if you have not tried it, to give it a go as it really is very simple.  I only used half the marinade for the aubergines and the rest will go in the fridge and probably get used tomorrow night.

The dish went down well with Gerry which was great.  I served it with some white rice topped with poppy seeds.  My only complaint - not enough!

Nasu Dengaku & Rice

Day 16 - Meat & the Movies

I woke late due to my 4am finish and with a major hunger. It was straight to poached egg and waffle which was lovely but really just an appetiser for what was coming next. Gerry went to work early so it was lunch for one again. I still had sweet potato left so I decided a quick and scrumptious meal would be baked sweet potato with bacon and avocado.  The whole thing would take around 10 minutes to create from start to finish so I set to work. I popped 2 slices of wiltshire-cured bacon under the grill and scrubbed a sweet potato.  This was wrapped in paper towel and went into the microwave for 4 minutes. Next I chopped up 1oz of avocado, a tsp of light mayonnaise and 1oz of red onion.  I put some baby leaf salad in a bowl and waited for the bacon to turn crispy.  Once it was done it was a case of cutting it into strips and mixing in the with the mayonnaise and avocado.  The sweet potato went into the bowl and the topping added. Quick and delicious.

Sweet Potato with Bacon & Avocado

I do feel like I wasted the rest of the day a little. I remained in my pyjamas and did very little except watch back to back movies on TV. I first watched Robert Altman's ensemble piece 'Short Cuts'.  At 180mins long it did seem a little epic but I found myself drawn into the lives of the LA residents and their struggle with death and infidelity. I can certainly see why Altman was nominated for Best Director at the 1994 Oscars. If you can stick with it then its certainly a film I recommend.  The way the lives seem to intermingle is especially satisfying.

I then watched something at perhaps the complete other end of the spectrum, Suburban Girl with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alec Baldwin. I had intentions of not liking it despite being a fan of both actors.  I wasn't too sure how the younger girl falling for the older man scenario would pan out without falling into a horrible cliche.  However, it was surprisingly refreshing.  The two leads had good chemistry together and it wasn't as predictable as I suspected it might be.  It also had a nice little turn from Maggie Grace, who I thought was discarded woefully early in Lost.  Not a bad way to spend the afternoon.

Gerry informed me that she was being fed at work so the plans I had for a sizzling Korean beef dish for us both went on hold. I kicked back with a Chang beer and revised my plans. I had a piece of steak left over and a tummy to fill.  Once again I massaged the steak with 1tsp of groundnut oil, salt and pepper.  I then whisked together the following ingredients to create a dressing:

• 1 finely chopped garlic clove
• 1 tsp sugar
• A dash of maple syrup
• 1 stalk of lemongrass
• 1 finely chopped shallot
• The juice of one lime 

This I left for around 30 minutes or so while I prepped the other ingredients for the dish.  I rinsed and steamed 1oz of jasmine rice cut up around 2oz of cucumber cut into strips and half a green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped.  Again, same as yesterday, I heated a griddle pan for 5 minutes and then cooked the steak for around 2minutes on each side to give me a medium-rare result.  The steak was actually much better cooked than yesterday and I think because I used groundnut oil instead, which as I've said is better at high temperatures. This rested for around 10minutes or so while I plated up the rice with the cucumber and chilli mixed in. I thickly sliced the steak and put it on top of the bed of rice. I then drizzled the dressing along the top.  The result was a tangy thai beef style salad. The sweetness of the dressing perfectly complemented the richness of the steak and the slight heat of the chilli. This recipe is a keeper!

Thai Beef with Jasmine Rice

Day 10 - Going Greek

Back at the parents today to dog sit my ever lovable border terrier Rufus while they are away. He is the Brad Pitt of the dog world, although he is quite old now, so perhaps he should be elevated to George Clooney status.  Anyway I digress, being at the folks means that I had to raid their fridge for sustenance. My older sis and gorgeous little nephew came over for lunch so I thought I should whip up something healthy but filling.  Having done a recce, the parents fridge lent itself quite nicely to a Greek salad and Marinated Chicken Breast.  Before they arrived I marinated an 225g chicken breast for around an hour in the following ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp oregano
• Salt and pepper

I also threw together a little dressing with the much of the same ingredients I used for the marinade.  I shook it all together and popped it in the fridge until they arrived.

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 2 crushed garlic cloves (crushed just with the back of a knife)
• 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
• salt and pepper

While my nephew napped, T and I caught up and I managed to smoke out the kitchen while shallow frying the chicken. I then rested the chicken for around 5mins while I prepared the salad:

• 2 tomatoes
• 4 oz cucumber
• 10 black olives
• 1 small gem lettuce sliced into strips 
• 1/2 red pepper
• 1 red onion
• 2oz light feta cheese

I assembled the whole dish together and the following was the result.  The chicken was actually delicious and although I would have liked to have marinaded it for longer it was lovely as it was.  A splash of the dressing with the red wine vinegar also gave it a little bit of a bite.  All for around 360 calories.

Chicken & Greek Salad

Dish & Dressing

I spent the rest of the afternoon working off lunch playing with my nephew.  Despite the fact I am a probably a little biased, he really is the most intelligent, funny and handsome little boy.  Just got to get him to say my name before all his other aunts and uncle!

Day 8 - A Pig Saves the Day

The title of this blog may seem a little abstract but today, Friday, when supplies are running very low, the mighty pig came to the rescue - twice. Today has been a mixed bag, a very good friend of mine K came over with her adorable little boy and we had a very enjoyable couple of hours lamenting the lack of work at the moment and the horrid weather.  It really does put a downer on everything.  We feasted on homemade banana bread made by Gerry and K brought over some Florentines which were delicious.  She's off swimming with the little one today and I don't envy her having to plunge into cold water right now.
Lunch was a meal that I should be creative with today because later I'm working so cannot create my normal culinary masterpiece (yes I know, can they *all* be deemed masterpieces, probably not).  However, as I said I'm running rapidly out of supplies and my stomach was getting a little frustrated so what better than a ham & cheese toastie on the ever-trusty George Foreman to save the day.  I delved in the back of my cupboard and also found a minestrone soup with croutons - bonus!  Lunch is served!

Ham & Cheese Toastie in all its Glory

The afternoon was a little more subdued because I often think when left to my own devices I become a little more anxious about the future, work etc. I mindlessly flicked through channels watching things I've seen before in the background and wondering why they repeat the same shows over and over again in such short spaces of time, while applying for a couple of jobs but generally felt a bit blurgh. Gerry came home and we watched 'My Neighbors, The Yamadas'. It cheered me up.
On to dinner,  it was a similarly quick affair to lunch. It involved the mighty sweet potato (wrapped in a napkin as I'm now all out of kitchen towel), 1oz avocado, 1oz onion, 1/2 tbsp light mayonnaise and of course 2 slices of the mighty pig.  The last rashers of maple-cured bacon are now on their way down to my stomach.  It was actually pretty delicious and I topped it decadently with some Ligonberry jam.  It was an impulse purchase from Ikea and I'm still not sure why.  Anyway, dinner as Gordon Ramsey would say is 'Done'.

It looks a little messy, minus marks for presentation but it was delicious!