Lean Meat Bolognese and very tried legs

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Malin

So not working out with my girls is a new experience as I am ending up workout mostly on my own. I miss them tremendously (but I still will see them like I use too) but I think I am so focused of making good classes that will challenge them as well as they are well thought-out workouts so it is actually ok just being me and pushing myself like I always do.

Yesterday I went to workout over at lifetime to try out tomorrows session and because I am timing everything I do I don’t have time to chat to the lad next to me who is waiting for his muscles to recover! Not that I am ever so chatty when workout, just ask the girls. I finished another total body workout and even when the focus laid on the upper body walking down to the kitchen this morning was a struggle not to mention the spinning class!

The rest of the day I spent studying resistant training and by the time I picked up the kids from school I was starving. Today is my #2day i.e. my fasting day and I am sticking to my 500 calories so it was very convenient that I had already made a delicious low-carb, low-calorie Bolognese yesterday, just as recommended when following the 5:2 diet. ( I do eat as normal the other 5 days, way over 500 cal)

And here it comes…

200 grams makes 283.5 calories

2 lb./907 grams Minced Turkey (or chicken)

6 oz/175 grams Tomato past

3.5 /100 grams Chopped Onion

1 Garlic Clove

Water

Chanterelle Bullion

Paprika Powder

Thyme

Juniper Berries

2 tablespoons Sour cream

Salt and Pepper

How to:

Fry the Turkey together with garlic and the chopped onion. Add the tomato paste, chanterelle bullion, water together with the spices and herbs and let it simmer for 20 minutes or so.

Mix the sour cream and serve with zero noodles it only has 15 calories/serving.

I sprinkled some feta cheese on top to reach my 500 calories.

Enjoy because Mira certainly did as she brought it to school for lunch and she is a picky eater 😉

Be careful for what you wish for…

Posted on June 25, 2013 by Malin

We finally arrived in my hometown Örnsköldsvik it’s a little of a tongue twister for a novice and although it is hard to pronounce it is a stunning small town on the east coast in the Baltic sea.

Last night at 10pm when I put Mira to bed she was crying that she didn’t want to go to sleep when it was morning…the picture is taken at 10.40 at night and the sun has just disappeared behind the mountain.

I did my best last week but even though you do your very best it is easy to keep on doing things you are used to so after my fist week in Sweden I was longing for some good old soreness. So I rang my sister-in-law to see if she could set me up with her TRX trainer and so she did. Both yesterday and today I was hanging in the cord off the ceiling in the Pilates Studio that was very peaceful and nice but yet energizing.

The class was very different from the training I normally do with Jonathan although most of the movements was the same as we do over at the warehouse. Here we worked different tempo and it was intense in a different way to what I am used to. Johanna was a great instructor as she was both very inspiring as well as professional and I am for ever grateful that she would fit me into her class in such short notice.

http://www.pilatesstudio.se

The rest of the afternoon we went to visit my aunt and in the car over there the tiredness and the pre-soreness pain was creeping up on me and I know that my run tomorrow will be a though one!

Knut by the sea

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with a Spicy Mango Salsa

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Malin

My sister is an amazing cook and this evening she served from her back pocket a grilled pork tenderloin with a spicy mango salsa with roasted vegetables…

Pork Tenderloin

2 pound /1 kg Pork tenderloin

CajP Marinade (A Pre-made marinade)

Fresh lime juice

Salt and pepper

Spicy Mango Salsa

1/2 Chopped Mango

1/2 Fresh lime juice

2 1/2 tablespoons Sweet Chili Sauce

2 tablespoons water

salt and pepper

Roasted Vegetables

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Red Bell Pepper

Mushrooms

Yellow Onion

Garlic

Asparagus

Squash

Spinach

How to: Marinate the pork tenderloin in the marinade and squeeze the lime juice over the meat and salt and pepper. Grill it on the grill until the meat is thoroughly cooked.

Dice the Mango and mix in the sweet chili sauce with the water, lime and spices and store at a cool place until it is time to serve.

Chop all the vegetables and roast in the oven until done at 225C/ 440F.

Take me to the moon…

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Malin

What a fun day we had yesterday as we had the opportunity to fly in a helicopter and admire the fantastic view from above. The kids loved it as they thought it was almost like riding a roller coaster.

2013-09-15 06.14.07

When we were back on the ground we decided to drive to Linköping to stroll down the street in the old town that looks just like it did a 100 years ago, very pretty. We diced to eat lunch at the Inn and as always this is the tricky part trying to find something to eat that is low-carb and not always a salad but not this time. We settled for some unbelievable delicious smoked shrimps served with a homemade aioli.

The hours flew by and before we knew it we had to get back to my sisters place and i managed to squeeze in my workout before dinner. My sister grilled homemade burgers that she served with a salad and this was a perfect dinner to finish off a great day!

This is Sweden showing off it’s best side…

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Malin

We have not slept for an eternity especially not Knut who fell a sleep 5 minutes before we arrived in Norrköping and I had to wake him up. So this day has been very, very long and I am so glad that we arrived to a lovely summer day and to my sister and nephew who had longed for his cousins. My sister lives next to a beautiful lake and fortune was made when they threw themselves into the water just to let all that sitting still energy get loose…

Now we have enjoyed a lovely dinner with grilled chicken with roasted vegetables…unbeatable!!!

Good Night!

I’m surprised and angry

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Malin

So I live in Glenview Illinois, on a quiet street that leads up to one of the many communal parks the village care for. Our street does not have any sidewalks but it used by pedestrians everyday walking their dogs or taking their children to the park. The problem is that the street was under construction a few years ago and is just so perfectly straight and smooth so you easily can hit 40-50 mph even though you only allowed to drive 20!

My husband and I try to set a good example for out children as we always talk about what is healthy for you and what is not healthy. We tell them it is ok to have a soda or candy but not everyday, we tell them it is important with exercise. Both our children are very active in sports and we encourage them to ride their bike, Rollerblade or have fun on their scooters. So in order to make it a little bit more enjoyable we put out our hockey goals on the street and the kids loves it. It also serves the purpose of alerting drivers that there is children on the street playing and it actually works. The cars are slowing down, the kids have a chance to get out of their way… and in my mind everyone should be happy about it.

So today I receive an anonymous letter in the mail from one of my neighbors saying that they are trying to be “good neighbors” but we can’t have the goals on the street as it is not allowed. They will not call the police but if we do not stop doing this the police will notice!!!

(The goals are only on the street while the kids are playing)

So my dear “Good Neighbor” I am confused. Does it bother you that I’m letting you know that the kids are out playing so you don’t hurt my children or does it bother you that you can’t get fast enough down the street to the stop sign where you have to wait for traffic to pass before you can make your turn?

What bothers me is that if you can’t pass the hockey nets doing “20” you are going to fast, also it surprises me that you value your precious time more than all the children and everyone else who doesn’t see the street as the new I-94.

So if this is where we heading I am not surprised that childhood obesity has doubled in the past 30 years* as we no longer can let them be active on their on terms. All their activities has to be organized, carefully planed and paid for before it can be executed. What about the spontaneous games for an example when Knut brings out his rollerblades, his stick and pretends he is Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Andrew Shaw all at the same time when he is bringing down the Boston Bruins ;). If kids have fun they will automatically be move around and do what they are best at…and that is being kids and the health will follow!

So my Good Neighbor maybe you should step out of the car, walk around the block and meet all the people who is out and about trying to live a healthier life and maybe you will learn a thing or two…

*http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/facts.htm

What’s your excuse…I didn’t have one this morning :)

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Malin

I get that it can be hard going to the gym during the summer with kids out of school, camps and everything else that goes on but I am trying my best to keep my schedule going to the gym on “my gym days” and hitting the woods on “my running days”. Today I had absolutely no excuses bringing my kids with as MrsL was brining her (this is Miras as Knuts very good friends) so it was an hour playdate just hanging out with their friends and doing a little bit of exercise 😉

As it turned out it was just me and MrsL today and both of us wanted to do legs and Jonathan as always put together a great program for us. First out was 20 weighted barbell step up really focusing on the glut this was followed by 20 single leg pelvic raises from a pilates ball. I think I mentioned this in an earlier post, the pelvic raises are a really hard move and after completed a total of 60 reps your hammies and ass has a real nice burn to them 😉

All the movements we did today was very simple it also gives you the opportunity to do each and every rep properly and put a 100% focus into the movement. We carried on working the backside of the legs completing 15 leg presses and 15 Romanian deadlifts and so far we were still hanging in there but with the heavy weights and crazy humidity I was soaked after 15 minutes.

There was not any real time to recover the legs as it was I who finished off the romanian deadlifts I was the first one to flick the barbell back on my shoulders into 20 spilt stand squats. The goal is really to take it has deep as possible and contract the glut every time you get up and once again you should get a nice burn in the quad, glut and hamstring. To make it even more challenging we finished with 20 jumping lunges, pausing after every jump in the squat and making sure that the feet leave and land at the same time.

At this point both me and mrsL was starting to get spaghetti legs but we still had one last circuit to do before we called it a day. It was the terrible leg extensions and hamstrings curls and after every completed rep we were stumbling more and more looking quite funny. The last 5 minutes stretch was such a relief and a necessity or I had not been functioning for the rest of the day.

Summer Vacation is finally here!!!

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Malin

Yesterday was the very last day of school and it was a very hot day so as soon as I’ve sent the kids off on the bus I put on my “blue danger” I went for my run. The thing was that I was not in the mood for it but I knew if I didn’t do it there and then it was not going to happened as it was warming up quickly. I realized fast that it was not only my mind that struggled my entire body felt heavy and my breathing was totally out of place, this was far from the feeling I had last week when I just kept going and going for my 12.6 miles. Anyhow I kept on running for my 4 1/2 miles and I really had to push to the very last step focusing on not slowing down.

I only had time for a quick shower before I had to get Mira and Knut from school. The rest of the afternoon we spent at the Lifetime pool and it was so great to watch the kids having so much fun, I guess there is no better way celebrating that school is over and the summer vacation is finally here!

That evening we went to a new restaurant called Nick’s in Wilmette as we kept on celebrating with our friends. We got the best table in the entire restaurant, we sat at the opened windows and as soon as the kids finished their meal they sat on the window seal playing and watching people walk by. Initially I was surprised on how empty it was but after about 15 minutes there was people lining up in the street trying to get a table and I totally understand why. The ambiance was great and the food was amazing, I ordered a kale salad with grilled salmon and this was a great way to finish a great day!

Mustard marinated Chicken with Asparagus

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Malin

I had the best helper in the kitchen today when we made dinner but after steering for too long in the pasta pot Mira’s arm got tired and what is not better to get loose on the trampoline instead…lol

2013-05-16 19.20.39

1 kg /2 pounds Chicken

1 tablespoon mustard

1 tablespoon Agave nectar

1 tablespoon Apple cider Vinegar

Salt and pepper

How to: Mix all the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl and let marinate the chicken for about 30 minutes. Grill the Chicken on the grill until thoroughly cooked (I added the asparagus when I flipped the chicken around).

Serve the Chicken on a bed of spinach and tomatoes then sprinkle some chimichurri on top…Enjoy 🙂

Turkey Burger with an almond bun

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Malin

So you never thought you could eat a juicy burger in a bun when eating clean…I stumbled over the easiest recipe and it was both low-carb and lean…simply very healthy.

Turkey Burger

1 pound/500 gram minced Turkey

1 tablespoon tomato pure

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Salt and Pepper

Grill Seasoning for the grilling

Almond bun

1 egg white

1dl/less than 1/2 a cup almond flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon of virgin coconut oil

pinch of salt

Guacamole

1 avocado

2 tomatoes

1/3 red onion

½ limejuice

1 garlic clove

Chopped cilantro

Salt and pepper

How to: Start by mixing all the ingredients and form them into patties and grill them on the grill until they are thoroughly cooked and season with the “grill spice”

Mix all the ingredients for the almond bun in a small bowl, place the bowl in the microwave at full effect for 1 1/2 -2 minutes. When it is done split the bun into two halves.

I served this with the guacamole (this time I had bought freshly it freshly made from whole foods) and I added the coleslaw leftover from our sunday dinner…The best compliment I can get is when the kids turn around to me and say; “Mom this was really good” because Knut and Mira finished their burgers in seconds!

Coleslaw recipe:

https://mrsmalin.com/2013/04/29/alabama-drumsticks-so-easy-and-fool-proof/