Getting my green on.

As I promised you all last night this morning I got rid of all my naughty foods in my cupboard and replaced it with veggies and healthy alternatives! My first green smoothie in a week or so and I think we can safely say I've made up for lost time. Yep that's a pint glass ;)

In today's breakfast in a glass was: 

2 bananas

60g of spinach leaves

1 heaped tsp of almond butter

1 dash of cinnamon

1 squeeze of honey

3 or 4 generous handfuls of gluten free oats

4 gluggs of almond milk (delicious on its own by the way if you're scared to buy it)

And WHIZZ! A big fat glass of yum!

Speaking as a girl that's used to feeling like a pufferfish after any meal or drink its astonishing that after drinking a pint of very thick smoothie, (I'd rather have it thick than watered down, means I know I'm getting a boat load of goodness) I don't feel like a fat slug at all. Infact I just ran to the tube and then had a fight or flight moment legging it across a busy platform to catch a different train.That may not sound like much at all, but this is coming from the girl who's been feeling like she's stuck on slow motion the last week.

Fast Food. Slow body.

I'm sorry I've disappeared the last few weeks, I've been running round like a headless chicken with my new job, amongst other things! I promise to pay you lots more attention ok? :) 

I've been a naughty little madam and fallen off the healthy bandwagon in a big way, and my god is it showing. I'm feeling sluggish and rather sleepy all the time which is just plain crappy. If like me you need to remind yourself of all the reasons to maintain a clean lifestyle you really most check out James Duigans book "Clean and Lean Diet" it's friendly, easy to understand and incredibly motivating. I intend to read it cover to cover again tomorrow. 

I'm not going to allow myself near the Food To Go Section of Tescos again and from now on the only drink ill be glugging will be water, fruit, green and peppermint teas. 

If any of you love a good Burger King binge or need inspiration to kick the KFC bucket here are a few reasons that'll get you running from that fast food faster than they can say "would you like that supersized?"

Peanut Butter Lover? No more...
The FDA allows for there to be upto 30 insects and bugs in your favourite spread, oh and they're ok with rodent hairs too?! From now on spread Natural Almond Butter on your morning toast or apple segments. It tastes better, lasts longer, and the ingredients are JUST what it says on the tin.

Hairy facts...
In any given year one customer in one fast food chain will digest 12 pubic hairs..How many have you eaten so far? YUCK!

Those naughty little Trans Fats.
Yes they were made illegal to be served and sold to people a few years back but somehow those slimy fast food chains have slipped them into our foods and can get away with it so long as they're under a gram. Those grams add up though...

Burger marinated in Ammonia? Oh yes please... :/
The cheapo meat used by these companies is the trimmings and waste from thousands of pieces of meat and to rid it of all the germs and bacteria from where it's been sat about in a sweaty slaughterhouse is....ammonia...oh great!

French Fries...There's a reason some of you like them dipped in milkshake..
You know how sometimes you like to dip your chips in your strawberry milkshake? We've all done it! Well it turns out they've already been dunked into sugar to make them crispy. Oh jesus, hi there mr sugary, oily, fatty, starchy potato man!

Summer Salads? Anti-Freeze
A lot of the fast food chains like to soak their salads in anti-freeze to keep them "fresher" for long. Why not just cut out the middle man and drink your windscreen water? :P   

I hope this has helped to keep on the straight and narrow? Ill be going back to yummy smoothies in the morning! I'm hungry for some antioxidants! 
Night Night Girls and Boys! 

My First Week at the New Job.

Could I be happier in my new job? I'm gonna say no.  For those of you that are new to my blog, I was very lucky in that about a month ago I had a eureka moment when I transferred from a waitressing position, to working in the kitchen. I was there for about one month, and have recently started my new job. And goly gosh (yes I just said that) am I glad I did! If I could smile all day long like a cheshire cat I would, pretty sure they'd all think I was a fruit loop if I did though right?
So yeah, I'm pretty excited about it all ;)

So after almost a week of inductions and health and safety hoops to jump through I was finally allowed into the kitchen! As I arrived for my first "proper" shift I was actually slightly nervous, but I was greeted by so many welcoming hello's and and how are you's, that that feeling quickly vanished. I started the day off prepping for the breakfast service, making little layered muesli pots, which gave me so many ideas for future breakies. Later on in the day I got to try my hand at writing in chocolate, not bad for a first timer?

Not long after this I was set the task of making pizza bases from scratch, a skill I shall happily be testing and adapting with the help of some friends soon no doubt! And the next thing I knew my shift was over and it was time for me to go home, thats right, I was finishing work at 4pm on a Friday, oh how I could get used to this ;) 

Since then I've been shown how to prep all the dishes for my section and today was my first shift being left alone with the cold section. So if they wanted salads, starters, or puds I was their girl. It all went really well! 

I think I am one of those lucky little bunnies that can genuinely say she loves her job! :) 

Chai seeds, Coconut Milk and Raspberry Compote.

Sorry I've been a little quiet the past few days! I've been rather busy with the new job, which I am LOVING btw! I'll do a little post all about it in the morning!
 
This was my first purely vegan pud I've ordered in a restaurant and I wasn't dissapointed. It tasted a little like rice pudding, with a slightly different texture. I must admit it took me a while to figure out whether or not to chew it. The answer was not. Such a pretty little dessert....

I'll definitely be ordering this one again. While we're on the subject of alternative milks, if like me you're trying to avoid dairy where possible then this might interest you. Non dairy milks have recently become a lot more popular, you've probably noticed a rise in Soya milk, but I have noticed that some people are unsure of the benefits of soy... Some nutrition experts love the stuff, saying it will help maintain a healthy body, others say it can cause huge issues with hormone balances. Due to the confusion surrounding this I am going to try out all the other alternatives first. I noticed in my local supermarket the other day they are now selling Oat, Rice and other non dairy flavoured drinks! This is great news, no falling off the band wagon cos we want a homemade milk shake and Holland and Barrett is closed!!
I'm hopefully gonna get my hands on an icecream maker in the next couple of weeks so I'll be whipping up lots of non dairy treats in time for summer. Yummyyyyy....

Food and Wine Tasting Evening

Last night I attended a Food and Wine Tasting event at one of my local pubs. I wasn't really partaking in the wine side of things to my friends delight. More food for me, more wine for her, everyone's a winner. It was a great little social event amongst friends. We were given a variety of little dishes, but the main emphasis was on the booze, I'll warn you now if you are wanting to learn a little about the different types of grapes, and what compliments what, you're on the wrong blog. Sure, they gave us some pointers along the way, but if there is a plate of spicy chicken wings in front of me you can bet any money I'm probably not listening to you. And here comes the food!

This was obviously when I perked up, but as previously stated, I couldn't tell you a thing about the wine, but damn those chicken wings were hitting the spot.

Next up, crusty bread, dipping oils, and saucisson. The bread was lovely and warm and I was more than happy tearing, dunking and chomping away on the bread alone. No pork for me, one of my food allergies sadly.

This was followed by a tasty little Gruyere and Pancetta Tartlet, you're probably thinking, well how would you know, you try not to eat dairy and pancetta is BACON which is PORK. All true, but I have had the pleasure of eating it before my digestive system got all pathetic about a year ago. God I miss Bacon!

One of my favourite salads, the tuna niciose. This was a mini version, and a idea greatly executed, cherry tomatoes and a quails egg replaced the original ingredients you'd expect to find. The tuna was seared and deliciously rare....I'd eat everything rare given the chance.

After this, a selection board of goodies, many of which I can no longer eat, but have tasted in the past. scotch eggs, spicy king prawns, smoked duck and fig Rolls. The Scotch Eggs are the cats pajamas, the spicy king prawns did exactly what they said on the tin. Spiiiiiiicyyyyyyy. The duck rolls were nice, however as a huge duck fan I'm personally all about the crispy duck, confit de canard or duck spring rolls.

And last but not least, the pud. Now I do apologise, this one was so yummy looking I'd already devoured it before I could take a photo. Food Blogger Fail Number One. But to paint you a mental image it was, homemade shortbread, fresh cream and strawberries. NOM.

After a few hours of laughter and well needed catch ups I said my goodbyes and rolled on home.

Eccles Cakes.

It was one of my last days at my old job and as it was relatively quiet so I was asked to make some Eccles Cakes, for those of you that haven't come across these before, they're a bit like mince pies, but lighter and less boozy. Don't let that put you off, they're still scrummy and super easy to make if you decide you want some little bite size treats.

First sold in 1793 by James Birch in the town of Eccles, these tasty little things have been popular ever since. No one is sure who actually invented the recipe but who cares, lets get baking! ;)

With this recipe you can either use ready rolled puff pastry or make your own, as I was at work I used ready rolled. I then cut them into little discs, about the size of your palm, not including your fingers.

Right time to make the mix, all you need is:

25g melted butter

200g raisins or currants

100g brown sugar

50g orange zest

1tsp cinnamon

1tsp nutmeg 

Stick it all in a bowl and combine with a fork.  You're not expecting a smooth texture, just all mixed up like this...

 These measurements make a fair amount of the filling but because the discs are small just put a tsp of it in the centre of each disc, anymore and the folding technique will be a nightmare.

 

Dab a little water all the way around the edge of the pastry, now pinch the pastry into three points like this....

 

The next part can be rather fiddly as the pastry tends to be very fragile. Pinch the points to where you can start to feel the filling and then fold to one side. Do this is in the same direction for each one...

Now gently place it on the counter and SMASH your palm down on it. More slow mo smash than hulk smash. It should now look a little something like this...

 

Time to make it shine, brush with milk and sprinkle with caster sugar.

 

Mmmmmm sparkly! Now just place them all on a baking tray with baking paper in it. Don't worry too much about leaving space between them. They don't tend to expand out, just up. Now just pop them in a pre heated oven at 180C for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. 

I'm not too sure how many of these will actually make it to the customers, the chefs keep sneaking them away, naughty naughty! I can't blame them really, once you have one you want the whole lot! 

What's that in your mouth Emma? 

Oh.... I'm just doing "Quality Control" ;)

 

Meat Liquor with the boys.

I don't know about you but I have a list as long as my arm filled with all the restaurants, clubs, pubs and cocktail bars that I MUST go to. Meat liquor was certainly at the top. Last night after a very chilled day in the park soaking up the sunshine, we decided it was about time we checked it out. Normally you have to queue for a good half an hour at least to get a table. But not today. We arrived slightly before 9, I won't lie to you we had already had a pit stop at the Three Tuns for a quick drink and sharing platter. By the time we got there it was still packed and our names were added to a list and pointed in the direction of the bar. The place is very dark as you'll see by my photos in a second, it has an American grunge feel about it, which I loved. We ordered our first drink, I was very aware that the bartender looked a little like Channing Tatum. 

"Even if the foods bad I may have to bring my girlfriends back just to look at you I thought" 

We were shown to our table and given menus, now at this point I was slightly confused/disappointed I'd come to a place called MEAT liquor and there's wasn't a single straight up steak dish...is this some sort of joke?! My love for steak can sometimes cloud my vision when it comes to perusing a food menu. 

Anyway I went for the next best thing. And my god I felt like a fool for my mini tantrum.

It looks yucky with the flash but...

This is the Phili Cheesesteak. Shavings of rump steak, green peppers and cheese all wrapped up in a big bun. I'm not a fan of the flash at all, I'm all about natural light, which we really were lacking. But you know what they say? If you lower one sense, you heighten another! Trust me your taste buds will thank you for the darkness. The boys being boys all plumped for burgers ofcourse and a side of chilli fries. 

By this point I was winning the fight against my food, I'd decided to tackle the problem with both hands. 

Now this is where it all got a bit silly. And by that I mean, I got a little silly. Due to my deliriously happy state I really wasn't thinking before speaking, to the boys delight! If you're out with the lads I wouldn't suggest ever saying "oh my god! I'm getting more meat between my legs than in my mouth" 

My Phili monster was awesome but then I had a bite of one of the burgers and it was a game changer! Word on the street is the wings are pretty neat too. 

Thanks for having us Meat Liquor, we'll be back soon. 

Green Smoothie: The Hulk

This smoothie was a monster. It was such a beast I had to chuck all the ingredients into the food processor before the blender would even look at it. It's also super green and packed with slow releasing energy, so you can take over the world all day long! I was in a rush to catch some rays today, I've got my priorities sorted ;) so I didn't take any step by step photos as such but I did get to use my portable smoothie flask for the first time.

So in todays smoothie we have:
Half a Cucumber
1 Pear
1 Green Apple
3 handfuls of Spinach
2tbsp of Honey
2 dashes of Cinnamon
2 dashes of Nutmeg
3 handfuls of Rolled Oats
5 ice cubes

This one took a while to get down to a consistency that didn't make me want to chew it. But my word it was refreshing on a day like today! The cucumber made it chilling and perfect to slurp on the sticky tube so stop me losing my marbles. The crazy colour may put off some people from trying it but that just means more for us...wahoooo!

Granted, it is super green but it tasted a little like an iced chai latte minus the coffee YUM! Even my buddies that work in Cocktail bars were impressed. And that's saying something for a bunch'a'boys who love their liquor. 

Green Smoothie: Berry Berry Good!

I was feeling rather fruity this morning, the sun was shining, I was smiling. So there was only one thing for it! A berry explosion for breakfast of course! I ran to the fridge and pulled out the basics. Hi there Mr Spinach, this morning you shall be getting up close and personal with:
Strawberries
Blueberries
Blackberries
a few scoops of my homemade Watermelon Sorbet

 Bung it all in the blender and BUZZINGA!

Check out all those flecks of colour! This smoothie was delicious although I wouldn't suggest it if you are trying your first green smoothie. This one would be a great one to get you started!

English Tea Shop: Calming Blend.

A very food friend of mine invited me over to her new place the other. And me oh my it's stunning. Such a calming atmosphere about the whole place, the sound of the Thames and a steamy mug of tea in our hands we caught up on atleast a years worth of gossip and life stories. J is the type of friend that you hold very dear to you, hardly ever see but when you do it's like no time has passed at all. I told her all about my new healthy living plan and she was super excited for me. As a nutritionist she had lots of advice and inspiration to share with me.  We have lots of foodie adventures planned :D and I can't wait.  Even during the short time I was there she helped me with my food allergies, suggested alternatives and generally go me excited about foods I didn't even know existed. She's great. Ill be posting about her lots (sorry J) Next stop, growing my own EVERYTHING. And hunting down this tea....

.

 
As a liquorice hater I was totally shocked when J introduced me to this, the liquorice adds a cooling effect when drank that is so incredibly calming. Hence the name ;) If I had to drank one thing for the rest of my days, it would be this. Although I would never get anything done and it makes me all melty and chilled. Ohhhh I've found it! You can buy it from here or you can check out the official website with all the amazing flavours here.  As if that wasn't enough we then decided to head off for a jacuzzi, pool and sauna session. SUPER BLISSED. Today has been delightful. We've just rustled up a yummy healthy dinner too. 

It's a veggie bananza with a touch of chili, some tuna and under that mountain of goodness some whole wheat brown pasta too. Scrummy. We're about to embark on some baaaad tv and films. BEST, DAY, EVER.

Breakfast for Kings.

Breakfast really does set you up for a good day. I could have a crappy breakfast and roll around all day like a depressed slug. Today just wasn't going to be one of those days.
Get a load of this.

Banana Pancakes (you can check out my recipe here) with maple syrup, half a pint of OJ and a pear with Greek yoghurt and honey. There'll be no slugging today. I think breakfast/brunch is my favourite meal I'm gonna whip up lots of pancake recipes soon. 

It's a beautiful sunny day today! I'm off to venture East...in sandals and a sun dress. Finally London has caught up at last, lets hope it sticks around.