Monster Muffins, Chocolate Cookies and Pesto..

I didn't post for a while, being busy and all with holidays and the first workweek back,,
I always need a couple of days to get used to work and the office atmosphere again if I have been off, even if only for a week.I have to day Its a lot easier to stay accountable on my diet when in my work routine than on holidays.

The holiday was nice, it was just a week of being a ´school mum´ again. I was actually more stressed at home than at work with running to the school 4 times a day, keep the house clean, stay exercising, Trying to dodge the nasty looks at the schoolyard from mothers who either envy me that I actually have a career and so are not obliged to talk to those fake uber-mums everyday or are really thinking I am the worst mother in the world as I am not at the school picking up my kids everyday...

Anyhow Thank God there are some nice mothers there as well which I spend some hours nagging, gossiping and chatting with in between pickups..



Something I wanted to share with you is the Monster Muffins!
Why I call them like that is very simple.. I turned into a monster while eating them!
It was like the chocolate demon inside me wanted to get out! I swore to my husband that I will never make them again anymore. I normally do not really crave chocolate and therefor my insane behavior with those muffins are unreal. Thank god there is no sugar or gluten and are actually quite healthy!
They are actually called Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes and the recipe you can get right here!








When they were finished, my craving for sweet was not gone yet , so the chocolate demon inside  me decided to make some Chocolate, Oat and Peanut butter Cookies as well. Although they don´t really look like cookies, more like blobs of whatever... They taste amazing though and are very good to get some energy in the afternoon! The recipe is here..


Of course I never lose out on my exercise regime because I know I will feel horrible the whole day if I snooze, So during my holidays I did my normal 06:00 AM workouts except on 2 days where I went
to Zumba with the Mummy Army. It was fun, but nothing I would enjoy every single week..

This Saturday I did Body Combat with improvised weighted gloves ( cycle gloves and 0.5 KG ankle weights) and that worked good..although I mentioned to Shayne already that real weighted gloves would be a great birthday present....
Today I wanted to try to run again but with my new shoes. I dreaded the pain in my shins and feet. but it didnt happen! I managed to run straight for 1.8 KM and did a 30 minute exercise routine with our home gym focussed on Biceps, Triceps, Abs and Chest.

Shayne went for his first outside cycle of the year and wont you know it.. he got an accident.
Well he created an accident by not seeing a traffic light and landed on the hood of a car. Thankfully no broken bones or anything , just a dent in the car and his ego probably..

I am still into smoothies every day for lunch and I always prepare them for 2 days in advance.
Previously I added Oats in them, but as of the advise of the Nutricionist , I replaced this for the protein shake I was taking anyway in the morning..

Today´s smoothie preparation; strawberries, raspberries, blueberries,baby spinach,  flax, chia, banana, almond milk and 2 scoops of strawberry flavored wey protein ( one scoop a day)

As we are almost finished with out strawberry protein, we ordered some new, but this time 4 different tastes...
Strawberry, Banana, Vanilla and White Chocolate.
Especially for my smoothies Shayne also ordered no flavor protein powder.. So we have enough for the coming six months! The pills on the photo are omega 3 tablets Shayne likes to take everyday..

Last week I bought a Basil Plant and today I made Pesto with it, Because there wasn't enough Basil on the plant I mixed it with Baby Spinach and it tastes amazing! Also very simple to make..
It was great with the chicken breast and even my oldest loved it! The recipe here.

Last thing I want to share is my Measurement chart,,, I am pretty chuffed that even with the monster muffins I mentioned to lose some centimeters and grams..

Have a good week all and Stay Strong!

Jany

My Weekend and Monday fun..

Its already Monday evening, but I still want to talk about the weekend.. I hope all of your weekends were good ones with hopefully some exercise and not too much alcohol.

I love it when I am awake on weekend days very early so I can do my exercise, clean my house and actually still have some hours left to spend with my girls and chillaxing.. 

This weekend was definitely on of those great weekends. Saturday I woke up around 8.30 , got dressed in gym-wear and did an hour of Bodypump.

The only part from Bodypump I don' t like is those frigging chest presses! Somehow I always end up with pain in my elbows while doing it, get then annoyed that I cant keep up but amazingly still manage to have muscle pain in my chest the next day!

Anyhow.. when that was done and dusted, I got some of my house chores done as I have the whole week to clean the house! Yep the Aupair needed a week of , so the school-runs are on me this week!

This Saturday was also Fiesta Primavera ( Spring Party) at the girls school where Sofia and me wanted to join the Zumba class... It ended up with a big age variety in the public ( 6 to 60 I guess) and two 18 year old boys leading the bunch.. I only managed to do half an hour as I found it a bit awkward to jump around in my normal clothes with a beetred head and makeúp on.

Saturday also means cheat-day and this time I wanted to celebrate this with a small block of chocolate. Yeah dieting and  eating healthy is all well and good, but a hormone infested woman does need her chocolate sometimes! And this combined with a good view, sun on the face and some knitting to relax.. makes me definitely happy!

Dinner was hamburger and chips..but then our more healthy Version...

Aubergine slices instead of bread, roasted sweet potato instead of chips and home made tzatiki instead of Mayonnaise..

On Sunday again I was up early and decided to go for a long cycle. The weather was still nice ( thunder storms and rain in the evening) so the ride along the beach in Barcelona was amazing! 

The trousers I am wearing are padded and I am sure some people had a good laugh when they saw my outfit versus the bicyle I am riding lol. I used to have a road bike, but my neck was always cramping up on that. Then I got an amazing ´High Nelly´ Bicycle I got from my in-laws.. Including the basket!!

After the cycle , the kids and me went to the playground and then relaxed some in the house.. Lovely  Lazy Sunday afternoon...

For Dinner we had chicken roasted in fresh Ginger, spring onion,Soy Sauce, Indonesian spices, curry powder and a bit of olive oil. With a Quinoa stir fry with fresh green beans, spinach, red bell pepper and unsalted,skinless almonds.

Today exercise wise, it was a horrible day , but I am trying t not feel bad about it as I had good exercises over the weekend. I was doing a 40 minute Pilates Ball workout, but the amount of times the ball was rolling from underneath me was countless. At one point i was ready to throw the damn thing out of the window.. Poor guyor girl who would be standing underneath it.. basically having a spacehopper thrown at you and bumped of your head.. ( sorry I am very imaginative lol) .

I also think with the amount of windows I cleaned today , I have a fair amount of squats and arm exercises done!!

Now off to bed and tomorrow a Zumba class again with a mum from the kids school..

However I dont want to deny you the salad I made tonight as a side dish...

Cucumber, Cherry Tomato, Red Onion , Pine nuts ,Chia, a bit of pepper and salt , a table spoon of olive oil and Water Chress from our own Garden,uhm I mean Balcony..

Have a nice evening all and you know.. Stay Strong!!

Chicory for Dinner and Broccoli Nuggets!

Today I was leaving work early to pick up Sofia from School Camp.
She had great fun and came back like a zombie ( and that only after 1 night..)

Because I was home so early , It was my turn to cook my husband pointed nicely out the day before..
And as we seem to overbuy on veggies lately , I needed to make something with slowly dying Chicory and Broccoli..

Those two together didn't sound very appetizing , and the traditional Dutch way of Chicory with ham and cheese out of the oven is a bit too fat for me at the moment... So I decided to use my lovely friend Mr Google once again and stumbled on these recipes..

Chicory in Balsamic Vinegar with Pear and Bell Pepper:

What you need for 3 persons

• 3 pieces of Chicory
• 1 big red Bell Pepper
• 2 Pears 
• 1 table spoon of Olive Oil
• 50 ml Balsamic Vinegar

How to make: 

1. Wash and cut the Chicory in half and remove the ends and the heart ( the bitter part)
2. Slice the Bell Pepper and cut the pears, but not too small.
3. Heat the Oil in the Pan and put the Chicory with the flat side in the Pan.Sprinkle some pepper and salt to taste and bake brown. Turn Around the Chicory and bake on the other side. It doesnt matter if it falls apart a bit. 
4. Add the Bell Pepper and shake the Pan instead of using a spoon to mix. We dont want the Chicory to fall apart too much.
5. After 2 minutes add the Pears and shake the Pan again. 
6. When the Pears are going to caramelize a bit , you can add the Balsamic Vinegar and then let it simmer with the juices of the vegetables. The ´sauce´will thicken a bit which gives a lovely sweet taste.

Broccoli Nuggets: 

What you Need: 

• A small head of Broccoli
• 100 Gram of 0% Mozzarella
• 1 Egg 
• 50 Gram of wholegrain Breadcrumbs
• A Teaspoon of Curry Powder

How to make.

1. Cut and Blanche the Broccoli.
2. When the Broccoli is Cooked, Mash it but not too fine.
3. Add the Broccoli and all other ingredients together and mix in a bowl.
4. Make little croquettes from the mixture but be sure you squeeze all the excess fluid out.
5. Bake in the oven on 180C for about 30 minutes.

Enjoy!!! 

Abdominales Hipopresivos or.. Stomach Vacuum!

Remember what I said 2 posts back?

My focus point for myself is my Belly I am always holding it in , checking how much I lost, doing loads of abs training etc etc.. but in the meantime, without realizing , I lost a good bit of my hips , butt and legs too!

Last week I went to a Nutritionist and she told me ( apart from a lot more useful information) that I should do ´ Ejercicios Hipopresivos Abdominales ´ to target my blubber belly AKA muffin top ... I had no clue what it was and Google Translate was not very useful as usual..

But Finally I was able to translate it with the help of my best friend Youtube!

So what I have learned so far...

We have Inner Abs and Outer Abs and the popular six pack is part of our outer Abs.
That Six pack is amazing obviously, but doesn't give is a flat belly, especially not of you have a muffin top like me.. it just  gives you a six pack with a muffintop...

We need to target those inner abs!

So how do we train this? Right! A Stomach Vacuum!
When I saw the ´how to´ Video on Youtube, it looks so easy..
But  F*** , breathing out and then holding it is nothing to make fun of and it hurts!
I guess that´s a good thing , because.. No Pain No Gain!

So see below the video on Youtube..

Stomach Vacuum

And here the steps if you cant  watch the video..

1. Knees and hands on the floor or from a standing position with your hands on the table, Its important that your back is curved.
2. Blow out all the air from your lungs, squeeze your diaphragm.
3. Suck your belly in , try to expand your lungs like you were breathing but don´t let the air in. Use your diaphragm to suck in your belly tight. Feel your stomach squeezed against your spine. I always try to push my belly button to my back.
4. Hold for 10 seconds
5. Release and breath a few times
6. Repeat the exercise


So I did it for the first time today and will do it every day before bed time..

Of course I am no expert and all of the above information I robbed from the internet , so please use the above carefully!

Enjoy and remember.. Stay Strong!

Kale Soup .. like in Kale ..in soup??

Me being from Holland the only way to eat Kale, or as we call it ´ Boerenkool´ which literally means farmers cabbage, is with mashed potatoes and smoked sausage.
And if you are very adventurous, you might add a glob of mustard or Sambal ( Indonesian hot pepper paste). Ow and don´t forget the important part... very cultural... a hole in the middle filled with Dutch Gravy!! Which is the diluted version of the English Bisto Gravy...

Of course , I can´t eat this anymore at night as we always eat very late and I dont want to have Carbs at night + all the fat of the sausage and the Gravy is probably not such a good idea for me if I want to keep losing the weight..

However I love Kale and found an amazing recipe online for Kale and White Bean soup! However me being me , I changed it to Kale and ´whatever I have in the fridge´ soup..

Sounds interesting?? Here is the recipe.. ( ps: I am not very good in measurements as I cook on ´feeling´ , so if the measurements of my recipes sound weird, please change as you see fit :) )

What you Need :

• 1 Liter of vegetable or chicken stock.
• 2 Cups Kale
•  a cup of rinsed white beans
• 2 Boiled Eggs
• 3 Chicken sausages
• 1 Courgette
• 1 cup of sliced Mushrooms
• 1 Red onion
• 1 teaspoon of fresh grated ginger
• Kurkuma
• Bayleaves

How to: 

• Cut the Onion in rings and dice the courgette.
• Put the stock together with the Courgette and Onion in a Pot and warm up, but not cook!
• Cut and Wash the Kale and add to the soup
• Add the Mushrooms and Grated Ginger as well.
• When the soup is warmed up , add the Kurkuma and Bayleaves
• Cut the Chicken sausages and add to the soup.
• Add the White Beans
• Let it simmer till the sausage is well done.
• Laddle the soup in a bowl and Put the Boiled Egg on top.

Enjoy!!

Good days and...

Yes I have many good days in my weight-loss journey but yesterday was one of my worst days..

Normally when i feel insecure, don't 'feel' the exercise or am just not motivated, I just bite my teeth and get on with it.. 

However yesterday I hit my first low since I started.

I promised you that I would be honest in my blog regarding my journey, so here I am..

I woke up around eight , not because of the kids being awake, but because my husband was diddling around, getting dressed as he was going to play cricket. 

I vaguely then remember him going on about that it was raining and cricket was cancelled and fell back asleep..

When I woke up , like normal, I got in my sports clothes and wanted to start Bodypump.

But I had to wait as Shayne just started his Bodypump session.

That´s where it went wrong for me as my routine was messed up now.. 

I am normally quite OCD regarding my routine and this was no exception. When I finally started the Bodypump , I did it for 10 minutes and just couldn't go on.. I don´t know why , maybe because I am a hormone overflowing woman , but I broke out in tears and couldn´t stop for the next half an hour.

Poor Shayne didnt know what to say or do, but eventually managed to put me together again and had me finish my workout..

I felt a lot better though when I was done and could go on with my day without too many bad vibes..

It was also measure day.. I didn't lose any weight this week however my measurements are ok.

I lost some centimeters on my waist , but stayed the same for the rest.

After the exercise , I went to clean out my wardrobe while the kids where chilling in our bed with their tablets. It was quite a good feeling that a lot of clothes where getting too big and of course the best excuse to keep clothes shopping!

Then I decided to make some seeds and nuts crackers , and they turned out to be pretty good!

This is how I made them, however the recipe is not mine..

Ingrediënts;
- 100 g flax seed
- 50 g pumpkin seeds
- 50 g sunflower seeds
- 20 g Chia seeds
- 20 g peeled almonds

-20 g crushed almonds
- 200 ml water

How to make:

Put all the seeds and nuts in a bowl and add all the water. Leave it rest for half an hour so the seeds will soak up all the water. Pre-heat the oven in the meantime to 180 degrees Celcius.

When the water is soaked up , you put the ´dough´on a baking sheet in a square, and make sure that the dough is very flat. I added another baking sheet and rolled it flat with a dough roller. Then took the top baking sheet of and put it in the oven. I also added raisins which was not such a good idea.. the turned out horrible and had to pick them off lol.

Then I went with Sofia to the shop to buy big paper as I wanted to make big letters and numbers for Livia to play and learn with. Also I made some pecs , which is very good for her to start talking slowly. She loved them!

To finish the day with a nice but healthy dessert I also made Frozen Yoghurt with fruit.

The most simple thing ever.. I made a couple of them with Pear and Greek Yoghurt ( just blend and throw in the freezer for a couple of hours) and a couple with strawberry and Greek Yoghurt. They turned out to be yummy!

Today was a lot better with exercise and had good energy again. I did my exercises on our weight machine followed by tricep dips , plank, leg raises, normal crunches and side crunches. And when you are finished it looks a bit like this....

After the workout , I made myself ready and went to spend some time with my auntie Mia who was with the cruise a couple of hours in Barcelona-It was so much fun even though the weather was awful for Spanish ways.. I cheated on two small slices of pizza ( so bad...) but at least it was home made pizza en not dripping from cheese and fat.

When I came home I realized I still had to make my smoothie for tomorrow and the after ( always make enough for 2 days). Then I remembered a blog on Pinterest of a woman who prepped her smoothie bags en put them in the freezer till needed , so I decided to do the same..

It saves me some time in the evening when I can prep it all on Sunday. So I made three bags which is enough for 6 days. 

Bag 1: 1 apple , 1 pear, 1 banana, blueberries,  cup of oats and a bit of Chia seeds. 

Bag 2: Pineapple, Strawberries,half an Orange, cup of oats and a bit of Chia seeds. 

Bag 3:  Pineapple, Strawberries, 2 Bananas , Raspberries, cup of oats and a bit of Chia seeds. 

Later I will add the Almond milk en it should be good then.. I will let you know the results!

Stay Strong!

10 kilo Milestone!!

Finally Fiiinaaaalllyyy!!! I reached the milestone of 10 kilo weight loss..

It felt like ages and working so hard , but I am also a very impatient person ( good to have some self knowledge lol) I know its ´only´ 3 months , but for me it felt like 3 years. I still have about 15 kilo to go more or less. It depends a bit how toned up I can get and if a bigger weight is necessary then , well it is what it is..

So now I am down from 86.6 to 76.4 Kilos and even more exciting is that I lost a whole lot of centimeters!! **jump**jump**twirl** jump**jump**

My focus point for myself is my Belly I am always holding it in , checking how much I lost, doing loads of abs training etc etc.. but in the meantime, without realizing , I lost a good bit of my hips , butt and legs too!

See below the chart like in my first post , only now up to date: 

Ps: on 9/04 you see an increase in my waist of 3,5 cm.. its not that I suddenly gained this, but we started measuring on the bellybutton instead of above..

I have to say the measuring and the weigh-ins keeping me highly motivated. Because even though if I don´t lose weight , I lose centimeters and if my waist stay the same for a week, then I lose a cm on my thighs for example.. There is always something to celebrate!

Zoodles with Meatballs in tomato sauce

Zoodles.... yep it does really exist , and you know what? I wouldn't be surprised if it will show up in the dictionary one day, if it is not already there.. It sure is in my families cookbook as its such a great replacement for spaghetti!

Before I ramble on , please let me explain what Zoodles actually are..

Zoodles is a mixed name of Zucchini and Noodles... so there you have it..

Wait what zucchini? what the crap is that?? 

Zucchini, like all squash, has its ancestry in the Americas. However, the varieties of squash typically called Zucchini were developed in Italy, many generations after their introduction from the Americas.

We just call it Courgette in English..

This is not the first time I made Zoodles.. but this time it defenitely went a lot better with the spiralizer/ crisp maker thingy I bought in the big Barcelona Encants market today.. 

It does literary everything .. owww except rasping.. 

So here comes the recipe: 

Zoodles for 3 persons: 

What you need: 

• 3 Courgettes
• olive oil
• salt
• baking paper

How to make:

• Cut off both edges of the Courgettes.
• Spiralize with a hand spiralizer the courgettes including the skin but not the inside of the Courgette as that is too wet. Dont throw the inside of the courgette out tough, we need it later for the sauce.
• Put the baking sheet on an oven tray, put the Zoodles on there and sprinkle some olive oil and salt over it.
• Put the oven on grill stand on 180 degrees Celcius and bake the Zoodles for about 10 to 15 minutes. I used a pair of tongs to move them around occasionally so they wont burn.
• Get them out of the oven and Voila!! Your Zoodles are done!

  

  What is left of the courgette when done..

  
  
  

Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

Please note the basic home made tomato sauce recipe and ingredients are right  here , you need it in this recipe.

What you need:

• 600 grams of minced meat. I used beef but if you want it more leaner you can use turkey mince.
• 2 of the 3 leftover insides from the courgettes. ( the last one you can throw out or save for whatever you like to do with them) 
• 2 carrots
• 2 big table spooms breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• 1 pot of prepped homemade tomato sauce from my previous posted recipe.
• 6 big mushrooms
• 1 onion
• Indian spice mix.

How to make:

• Rasp the courgette and the carrots and put in a big bowl. Add The minced meat, breadcrumbs, Indian Spices and egg.

• Mix all together and roll little meatballs from the mix.

• Add some oil in a frying pan and bake the meatballs till brown. ( they don´t have to be done on the inside) 
• Put the meatballs in a big oven dish and leave them on the side. In the meantime preheat the oven on 180 Degrees.
• Cut the onion and the mushrooms and bake them in the same frying pan till tender. 
• Add the pre-made tomato sauce and half a cup of water as the tomato sauce can be quite thick since prepping.
• Let it warm up and then add it to the oven dish on top of the meatballs.
• Put in the oven for about 30 minutes till meatballs are fully cooked.

Put the Zoodles on a plate together with the Meatballs and enjoy!!

Saturday Cheat day..

Saturday is always my cheat day, like Friday is almost always my Rest day.

However Today we actually we had quite a healthy dinner which I wanted to share..

Fresh Onion Soup and Mexican Kale Salad!

I thought I never had Kale in my life before, but if I actually bothered to google it i would have known I had it many times before in Holland with Mashed Potatoes and smokes sausage ( The Dutch way called ´Boerenkool Stampot´ ).

So here the recipes...

Mexican Kale Salad ( Vegan and Gluten free)

What you need for the Salad:

1. Baby or Full Grown Kale
2. a pot of black beans
3. 1 cup of Corn 
4. 1 Big Avocado
5. 2 cups of cherry tomatoes 
6. 1/2 cup of red onion
7. 1 Cucumber

What you need for the creamy avocado dressing:

1. 1 small Avocado
2. 1/2 cup warm water
3. 1/2 cup of lime juice
4. 1 teaspoon of cumin
5. salt to taste
6. 1 teaspoon of pepper

How to make:

• Cut the Kale and wash before throwing in a bowl.  
• Wash the black beans thoroughly when coming from a pot.
• Throw the beans with all the rest of the Salad ingredients and mix with a spoon.

Dressing:

• Cut the avocado and throw in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients.
• Mix with a blender or bullet mixer till smooth.
• Add the dressing to the salad.

                

French Onion Soup

What you need:

1. 4 pounds yellow onions, peeled and thinly sliced (approximately 5-6 large onions)
3. 3 tablespoons butter
4. 4 cloves garlic, minced
5. 3 tablespoons flour
6. 1/2 cup dry white wine
7. 6 cups of beef stock
8. 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (optional)
9. 1 bay leaf
10. a few  pinches of salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
11. whole wheat baguette
12. Grated cheese

How to make:

In a large pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat.  Add the onions and saute until well browned and caramelized (but not burnt), about 30-40 minutes, stirring every few minutes.  Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute.  Stir in the flour and cook for an additional 1 minute.  Stir in the wine to de-glaze the pan, using a  spoon to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan.

Add the stock, Worcestershire sauce (optional) and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer.  Then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for at least 10-15 minutes.  Season to taste with salt and pepper. Discard the bay leaf.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  While the soup is simmering, slice the baguette into thick pieces and arrange them in single layer on baking sheet.  Bake for 6-8 minutes, until the bread is toasted and golden around the edges. Then put the grated cheese on top and Bake till the cheese is melted and a bubbly. Remove and set aside.

Ladle the soup in bowls and ad a piece of bread with melted cheese on top.

Enjoy!!

Confessions of a Sports hater..

As everybody knows, a big part of losing weight is exercising..

I know for most people its not the most fun part and it was surely never for me either.

I always said to everybody´ I hate sport!´ I don´t even want to walk the stairs!´ ( well to be honest with you I still don´t like stairs and if nobody is watching i sneak into that elevator if I get the chance..* busted* ) .

Many times I subscribed myself for the fitness school and being determined to do 3 gym session a week which existed mostly out of Zumba, Yoga and whatever fancy class they had. Every  time though after a month of 2 , I paid a shitload of money to sit on the sofa and making all kinds of excuses imaginable to not go to that dreaded class. Too tired ( classic!) , worked very hard, need to clean the house, will go 5 times next week etc..etc..

When my turning point came though where I was doing nothing else than sitting on the sofa in my spare time, I needed to make a decision..which I did as you can read in my first post.

My worry was still the exercise though, I mean what would I need to do to be successful and not giving up or getting bored?

With me working 9 to 18 on weekdays, I decided that I was going to try morning exercises before work.. I might feel tired the first week or so , but well get used to it eventually.. ( I am not a morning person, so was a hard decision to make).

Now we are 3 months further and I do my morning exercises 4 mornings on weekdays, do 1 hour of workout on Saturday and do between 10k and 16k powerwalk on most Sundays... And you know what? I absolutely love it and feel soooo much better and so much satisfaction and pride every day again! I love the feeling of muscle pain and love the feeling of muscles burning during the workout! And even the being up at 6 in the morning everyday is very easy to get used too..

As you might have guessed I don´t go to the gym, but my husband and I are doing all our exercises at home with Youtube or Les Mills/ Beachbody workouts. Also we have a Multigym at home now with weights and all sorts of equipment from Pilates Ball to Fusion bands and Ab weels! ( addicted much?)

Thinking of doing the same but dont know where to start? See below some links I started with: 

• When I first started, a friend of  mine advised me to start with Jessica Smith TV who does 10 minute workout videos ( and more)  and you can do 1 or 2 or as many as you want.. See here the link. Jessica is a previous Ballerina and now a certified personal trainer. See is amazing and very calm on her exercise regime.. No crazy regimes or fad diets for her!
• Now I am doing a lot of exercises with Fitness Blender with the link right here, Fitness blender are a great couple who are doing many workouts together or alone but in a very personal way.. 
• A good Pilates Ball workout I do a lot is this one or this one. They are beginner Pilates Ball workouts as I am not that balanced yet to take it any further.. 

When my husband is doing home workouts, he is mostly doing Beachbody T25  from Trainer Shaun T. Which is a 25 minute program but you will sweat like you never did before!!

In the weekends I am more into Les Mills Bodypump or Bodycombat and on Sunday I try to go outside for power walks or a cycle.

So thats it for now, I have to go to bed as otherwise I will have issues to get out to exercise in the morning!

Stay Strong and Night Night!!

Yesterday's Snack recipes

I got the request to give you the recipes of yesterdays snacks, so here a quick post to share them!

Roasted Cauliflower with Oriental Herbs: 

What do you need; 

1. Head of Cauliflower ( duuhh) 
2. 3 table spoons Olive Oil 
3. Dried/mixed Oriental herbs, or well you can use any herbs you like.
4. Sheet of Aluminium foil 
5. Brush
6. Frying pan

How to make: 

• Cut  the tougher outer leaves of the cauliflower and cut the cauliflower in thick slices ( about 4 to 5 cm a slice).
• mix the olive oil and the dried/mixed herbs together.
• With the brush paint the olive oil mix over both sides of the cauliflower slices.
• Fry the slices in the fryin pan until brown.
• Put the sheet of aluminium foil on the oven tray and transfer the cauliflower from the fryin pan to the oven tray.
• Roast in the oven for an additional 10 minutes.

The result should be like below, but is not my photo as I forget to make one :(

Egg Muffins with Cherry Tomatoes and Spring Onion:

What do you need: 

1. 5 eggs 
2. 1 cup of milk
3. 10 cherry tomatoes
4. 1 spring onion 
5. 2 tablespoons of grated cheese
6. 1 small can of sweetcorn
7. Olive Oil
8. Muffin Tin
9. Brush
10. little bit of pepper and salt

How to make:

• Whisk the eggs in a bowl together with the cheese and milk.
• Add the Pepper and Salt to taste
• Cut the cherry tomatoes in quarters and add to the mix.
• Cut the spring onion very fine and add to the mix.
• Brush Olive oil on the inside of the muffin tin.
• Pour the mixture in the muffin tin, but not full ( like I did and mine were a bit exploded..)
• Cook in the Oven for about 20 minutes.

Bread rolls with sunflower seeds and pine nuts: 

What do you need:

1. 500 gram of wholewheat flour
2. 3 tablespoons of olive oil
3. 1 and 1/2 cup lukewarm water 
4. 1 sachet of yeast
5. half a teaspoon of salt
6. 50 grams of sunflower seeds
7. 20 grams of pine nuts
8. 1 egg 

How to make:

• Mix the flour with the olive oil and salt.
• Mix the Lukewarm water with the yeast and then add to the flour mixture.
• Knead the mixture to a dough and then add the sunflower seeds.
• Mix again until you have a smooth ball of dough.
• Separate the ball of dough in little balls.
• Whisk the egg and egg-wash the top of the little balls of dough
• Sprinkle  the pine nuts on the dough.
• Transfer the dough balls to an oven tray and bake the bread for 25 minutes on 180 degrees Celcius.

Enjoy!!

Meal and Snack prepping..

Its Monday evening 9:00 PM and I am just sitting down..
I have been meal & snack prepping this evening, which is a bit too late because normally I do this on Sunday. Lazy me didn't want to move her ass anymore  on Sunday , so now I had to sit on the blisters!

Meal or snack prepping is the best way to not grabbing those unhealthy snacks when you are hungry.
Its so easy to walk to that vendor machine,  and I know when I am hungry.. ( Or more ´hangry´) I eat everything I can find and I don´t care if there is a teaspoon or a truckload of sugar in the snack!

Anyway as I don´t want to end up sugar loaded or very (h)angry, I always prepare my snacks the evening before or even a couple of days before.

This evening I made Roasted cauliflower pieces in oriental herbs and Egg Muffins with spring onion, cherry tomato and sweetcorn. My husband  made wholewheat bread rolls with sunflower seeds and pine nuts.

I know they don´t look very Jamie Oliver or Marta Stewart, but I am sure ( read; hope)  they taste just as good!









I also prepped the tomato sauce i told you about in my previous post and a huge pot of fresh veggie soup as this is always a good, healthy filler to have!

My smoothie made today for tomorrow and Wednesday is Pineapple , Orange and Coco sprinkles.