Detox Day Five. And beyond.

Today was meant to be the last day of the detox, in the past few days I realised the importance of meal prepping, listening to your body, and keeping well hydrated but I didn't really feel that there was a physical change to my body. Only a new found appreciation for clean eating and it's principles. I'll be honest, the lack of "body transformation" was slightly disheartening and put me in a slightly defeatist attitude for the rest of the day. I still had my lemon juice but skipped breakie went straight for almonds and berries as a snack while on a walk with a friend. I didn't even prep meals for work! TUT TUT. It got worse when I got to work. A downward slippery custard slope of doom. I don't mean to drag you all down I just want to be honest about my struggles on the final day. Anyway I had taken a photo the day before I started this detox, and took one when I woke up this morning. But miraculously when I got home after my very indulgent shift at work and put them next to eachother I realised there was a change! I looked leaner, more streamlined. Yes it was a subtle difference, but one that's spurred me on to actually continue the detox. 

I know I've got a long way to go but I'm excited about it!
Also stuffing my face with custard, cakes and other silly things really made me realise how much my body doesn't appreciate it. I'd gone back to feeling bloated, overly full and slow within a matter of minutes. 10 minutes later I felt a slight sugar high which was then followed by an almighty LOW. To such an extent I felt the need to shovel more food in my mouth just to keep my eyes open. Altogether a horrible experience, but a great reminder of why I was doing this! 

So to sum up I really would suggest this detox, just make sure you make it as easy as possible for yourself by prepping your meals and following the guidelines. 

This morning I'm back feeling great! Sat on the tube writing this up as we speak with a smile on my face, water in hand, lunch boxes in bag. 

YOU CAN DO THIS! 

You're only regret will be that you didn't do it sooner. ;)

Expect lots of clean eating recipes from here on out. And for those of you that find the whole clean eating idea intimidating, start slow, make your own treats and enjoy :) 

Summertime, is that you?

Yesterday I finally had my first taste of an English summer! I spent far too long in bed, but when I did whip back the bed sheets I was greeted by a beautiful day. I threw on a summer dress (the first time I've been able to do that all year) and headed off to find sunshine and friends. I found both at Gordon's Wine Bar. Little fact, it's the oldest drinking establishment in Europe. Go Gordon's! We all caught up on eachothers lives for the past week or so while polishing off bottle after bottle of wine. I was sticking to the water, oh yum ;) A few hours later and I was STARVING. We managed to gather the troops and head to L'ulivo, an Italian restaurant just round the corner. If anyone has ever said to you don't go grocery shopping when you're hungry, because you'll make awful choices, you couldn't be further from the truth with this place. I was so hungry when I ordered and I don't regret the Calamari, King Prawns or the Garlic Bread.

 And I certainly don't regret this bad boy.

Yep that's all mine. Here we have, a 12oz Sirloin Steak, red wine and rosemary sauce (swoon) and 2 sides of veggies, much to my waiters dismay I polished off the whole lot with a little help from a slightly tipsy partner in crime. 

We had every intention of going to meet more friends to continue the evening, but after that much food and that much sunshine we were all pretty sleepy. So we said our goodbyes, went our separate ways. 

And promptly fell asleep on the tube home. 

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.

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.