Pork Casserole with cauliflower rice…this is pure love…

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Malin

This is very easy to make but it requires a little bit of planning and it can for sure not be called fast food. When we came home this evening the casserole had been in the oven for over 5 hours and smell in the house was divine. Both Knut and Mira finished their dinner in a split of a second and yes, even Mira!! Knut said we have to make this again so Freddie can try it because “it was just so so gooood!”

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Here we go:

500 grams 1 lbs. Boneless pork shops …Next time I will use at least twice the amount

1 can of Tomato sauce

1 tablespoon Tomato pure

1 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce (gluten-free)

1 tablespoon Better than bullion (I used kalvfond, a Swedish brand)

Chopped mushrooms

Fennel

Fresh Thyme

Fresh Tarragon

1 Liter of water (or more depending on for how long you will keep the casserole in the oven)

Salt and Pepper

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Cauliflower Rice:

1 cauliflower

Olive Oil

White wine vinegar

Salt and Pepper

How to: Chop the pork into smaller pieces and fry them in a frying pan and season with salt and pepper. Chop the mushrooms and the fennel and mix them with the pork and the rest of the ingredients and let it come to a boil. Put the pot in the oven at 120C/250F for at least 2 hours but by all means longer. Make sure you don’t burn it so it is a good idea to check on it. Mine got dry-ish a few times but I just kept on adding water every time till it was to my liking (Not to wet and not to dry).

Grate the cauliflower and fry it in a pan for about 10 minutes and season with white wine vinegar, salt and pepper.

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A lazy morning in my sweats…

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Malin

I have not realized that Thursday is another day of the week that is crazy busy and today it really hit me now when Freddie is out of town and can’t rely that he will be home while I running in and out like a mad man. So I decided this morning I would do some chores around the house and go to Costco to stock up on some meat before I had to pick Mira up from school at 11.30. When we got home we she was helping me to put everything a way and making her own smoothie with fruit, this is a big step for her, as she does not like either fruit or vegetables.

So with a plan ahead I started to prepare dinner for this evening and I was really longing for some slow cooked tender meat so I thought I would get everything ready in my big iron pot. I didn’t dare leaving it the gas stove so I put the pot in the oven to cook slowly. Meanwhile Mira and me went to the gym, but as always I managed to leave the house 15 minutes late but I still achived a 45 minutes medium-intensity workout on the Stairmaster.

Straight from the gym we went to pick up Mira’s friend for their gymnastic class and from there it just rolled on. In between the pick ups and drop offs I had a change to check on the casserole. We were home just before 7pm and the house was freezing but an amazing aroma came from the oven that made us even hungrier. We hurried to have shower and had dinner on the floor in front of the fire…

A very cozy end to a very busy afternoon…

Ginger marinated salmon wok with prawns.

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Malin

I met Laura three years ago when Knut and her oldest went to kindergarten together and ever since we have been very good friends and so have our the kids. As we no longer belong to the same school district the kids don’t get to hang as often anymore but we try to get together so the kids to play and for us to chat over a glass of wine…or a cup of tea these days! So this evening she and the boys came over for dinner and I thought I let her try one of the low carb recipes…

500 grams/1 lbs. salmon

150 grams/5 oz. cooked and peeled prawns

2 scallions

100 grams/3.5 oz. chopped mushrooms

10 cocktail tomatoes cut in half

Chopped spinach

Marinade

1 tablespoon grated ginger

1 tablespoon soy sauce (gluten-free)

½ lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon fish sauce

Salt and pepper

Noodles

Chopped cabbage

Soy sauce (gluten-free)

Salt and chili pepper

How to: Start with chopping the salmon in small squares and marinate them in a plastic bag. Fry the mushrooms, scallions and tomatoes till they are soft and put them to the side.

Fry the cabbage and mix in the soy sauce and salt and chili till the cabbage is soft and put it to the side. Fry the salmon in a very hot frying pan till it has a nice browning to them, but not to long so they get dry. Wok the “noodles” and the vegetable together with the prawns and the spinach until the prawns are warm. Serve the noodles with the salmon on top and garnish with a slice of lemon.

My arms are falling off!

Video

Today we worked upper body and I think everyone was in the same mood as the weather outside as the rain has been poring down for the last couple of days, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t worked hard.

We started out with some basic abs/shoulder work; Leg raises, crunching with the legs up into the air, plank to push up and push up everything done for 30 second with no rest 3 times through.

Then we moved into the serious stuff…

You start by stretching your backside and then you walkout your arms out in front of you and hold that position before walking your feet back into the stretch again. We did this for about 5-7 reps and finished in a 30 second plank before turning around and did the same thing back.

Then we did a 6 exercise circuit were we mixed arms and cardio and let me tell you, I love when John mixes in the cardio when we are working with weights. We stayed at each station for 30 seconds and then we have 15 seconds to move to the next one before it started. After every finished circuit John gave us a minute break. (We also did ropes with both arms, it’s a killer)

To bring the heart rate down and give the screaming arms a rest we went back on our mats to work on our abs again, we kept on working for time instead of reps.

As John was having us do “Bear walks” and “Crab walks” Amy shouted out…We are not teenagers, we should not be doing this!!” But even though they don’t look that hard they are very deceiving, ask anyone of the gals!

After this craziness we went back on arms/cardio with the same setup of 30 seconds on and 15 second off…

To be perfectly honest…if I can do anything by tomorrow I’ll be surprised. I think I’ll have to go for the stairmaster because I have nothing left in my arms and it’s only 2pm!!

The truth…

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Malin

Not a lot change from last week. I think the first two weeks was just getting rid of water retention.

Weight: 57.3kg 126.4 lbs. –o.3kg

Thigh: 55.5 cm 21.8” Same

Hip: 95cm 37.4” same

Waist: 69cm 27.1” same

Belly: 79cm 31.1 same

Upper Arm: 25.5cm 10.03” -0.5cm

Smoky Beef with a Cabbage Salad

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Malin

I know I mentioned this before but Tuesday is by far my busiest day of the week. As soon as I have my workout over and done I am just moving into the next thing after another which results in me not going to the grocery store on Tuesdays! Good thing I always stock up on meat in the freezer and that the cabbage don’t get old to quick.

Smokey Beef

400 grams Beef

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke (add more by all means if you like it real smoky)

1 tablespoon Soy sauce (gluten-free)

1 teaspoon Tomato pure

1 mashed Garlic Clove

Fresh Thyme chopped

Salt and Pepper

Mix all the ingredients in a Ziploc bag and let it sit for as long as you have time. Fry the meat till it is to your liking. I prefer my meat medium rare so it dos not take long 🙂

Cabbage Salad

½ Thinly chopped Cabbage

1 Chopped Bell Pepper

Apple Cider vinegar

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Mix everything in a big bowl, if you let the cabbage salad sit for a day or two it actually get more tasty. I make a lot so I can use it for lunch and dinners later on in the week.

A personal note to myself…

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Malin

This morning I texted Laura as she mentioned yesterday she was going to a step-up class over at Lifetime Fitness. The class started at 9am so after I said Goodbye to Knut and Mira I changed into my workout clothes and ran over to the gym. Ever since we got back from our trip this weekend I’ve been ready to work hard but the run over to the gym felt very long. I don’t know if it is because it is 17 C outside and very humid and I am not used to it. It has been forever since I did a step-up class, we talking 6-7 years ago. Being a former gymnast I like to do different routines, especially as you sort of forget how hard it really is as you focusing on what you are doing instead.

step

The instructor was good; she was definitely pushing the class but she did not show the routines before we were suppose to do them. This left me very confused and I probably looked like a lost monkey trying to keep up with the rest of the people who doubtlessly been doing this since the beginning of time. I’m not the type of person who gives up but after 25 minutes I threw in the towel and decided to go for a run instead. This has happened to me before when I decide to tryout a class at the end of the month. The instructor keeps on building the routine throughout the month and everyone who is there consistently knows exactly what to do, except me!

time

Well on the treadmill I decided to do intervals but after one set my legs felt heavy and I knew I would not make it for 40 minutes. I did a flat run for 30 minutes and then finally my legs started to loosen up and I finished off the last 10 with intervals, but I had to fight for it. It is very frustration when your head says GO but your body says NO! run41

Chicken burgers with a sesame seed crust, roasted vegetables and an avocado salad

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Malin

I have not yet been to the groceries store so tonight I worked with whatever I had at home and this is how it turned out…

2 Chicken file 600 grams or 1.3 lbs. (or minced chicken)

1/3 cup chopped leek

¼ cup chopped Cilantro

1 chopped garlic clove

½ limejuice

2 tablespoons Soy sauce (gluten-free)

½ teaspoon Paprika powder

Salt and Pepper

1 Egg

1 teaspoon sesame oil

Sesame Seeds.

Start by putting the chicken in a food processor and make a mince. Mix in all the other ingredients except the sesame seeds. The minced chicken gets really messy so it is easier to form burgers if your hand are wet. Before you but them in the frying pan sprinkle the sesame seed on one side and before you flip them the other side. Make sure your burgers are well done as raw chicken may get you sick.

I just used whatever vegetables I had left over, I love the anise flavor of fennel and that went really well with the Brussels sprouts, yellow zucchini and bell pepper. Some fun fact about fennel; it was actually used by the ancient Greeks to help to loose weight, as it is good for your metabolism.

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I also chopped an avocado with some cocktail tomatoes and sprinkled over some lime juice.

Angry Monday or a cranky coach

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Malin

This morning Freddie got back to his usual schedule, which means that he travels a lot. So while he was ironing his shirts to get ready to leave town, I got a lift with Tania to go to the warehouse. We were 20 minutes early and we are chatting away about our weekend while we doing our warm up. When John comes from wherever he was hiding you just know it is going to be “one of those days”.

Monday is always a total body day and today was no different. We started out working our core with leg raises, flutter kicks, bicycle crunches and a 1 minute plank and to be honest I have not worked my core crazy hard for awhile, so I needed it for sure!

Then we moved on to the legs and mixed it in with some cardio. John timed us for a 30-second jumping squat, 30-second mountain climber, 30-second jumping lounges and then we finished it with 30-second push-ups…of course. By the end of the three sets I was dripping, as much as I like the days when we focus on the big movements using the machines I really appreciate when we mix in the cardio into the legs. I am often more sore from the movements that I can use in your daily life then when I’ve been pushing heavy weight. Not that I’m doing jumping lounges when I am at the grocery store even if it would be funny though, right!

Then we got right back working the core again and this time we brought out a medicine ball and did weighted leg raises, Russian twists, Spiderman climbers and to finish it off with a plank to push up. I don’t think I was the only one, my entire middle section together with my shoulders was screaming to knock it off, but like I said John was in “that mood” and did not really think we were working hard enough.

I don’t know if it was me because I was really looking forwards coming to todays workout but my body did not respond the way I would have liked. The next circuit we did felt super hard with 1-minute speed skaters, jumping into a sumo squats and high knees but this was not the end. For the final 10 minutes we focused a very last time on the core. The workout was real hard but I was not completely happy with my performance and even if coach was grumpy I think I just had a crappy Monday!

Wilmette Braves is awesome!!!

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Malin

Last night we all went to bed real early because we were supposed to have a game at 6am on an ice-rink half an hour away from the hotel. At 9pm the other team handed in a forfeit so we ended up not having to get up at 4am. Trying to be ambitious I thought I get up early to get a workout in, but it just didn’t happen (I am a bit bummed). I was so tired; I think spending a few days at a water park with a hockey team really takes it toll. We checked out and the rest of the day we spent at different ice-rinks and it turns out the lads did really well and we won silver. Wohoo Go Braves!

We didn’t leave Wisconsin Dells till around 4-ish and the weather was just god-awful and it took forever to drive back. Around 6.30 we realized it would be way to late to make dinner once we got home, so we stopped over at Rockford and ended up in a restaurant called Thunder Bay Grill. I ordered in a plane stake with broccoli and guacamole, a lot of protein and right up my alley. Tomorrow is a new week and I am charged up to make it a good one!

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