Dinner with great friends is unbeatable!

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Yesterday Freddie and I went to met up with a few friends in Logan Square to celebrate my 35th birthday but before we met up with them we found a bar that had seating outside and enjoyed the first cocktail in the sun. We had made reservations at 5pm at the Telegraph, a very trendy and cool wine bar with really different and interesting food and some fascinating wine parings to go with. 

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We had a really great time but as always not enough of it as we had to rush through the last course (it was the best one) as we had tickets to a show in the Loop. We literally shoved the food down our thoughts and rushed over to the theater was still about 10 minutes late. It was not too bad though because the show was very easy to get a hang of and it as we walked to our seats the crowd was in stitches. I laughed so much I thought I would pee my pants and I thoroughly would recommend it unless you are easily offended or don’t like crude humor ;). With that being said I had a fabulous evening and could not have spent my birthday in a better way! 

 

 

Bolognese with a touch of Asia…

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I am absolute in love with coconut, not only does it taste delicious but it is actually very healthy as well. Coconut oil can be used from anything from hair conditioner to booze your immune system. It is truly a super food that also being used for weight loss because the medium fatty acids are easily digested and used up by the body therefor it is not stored as body fat. Coconut oil also has a positive effect on the metabolism.

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500 grams/1 lbs. Minced Beef

1 Chopped Yellow Onion

2 Chopped Garlic Cloves

200 gram/7oz. Chopped Mushrooms

1 can of Tomato Sauce

1 tablespoon Curry Paste

1 tablespoon Soy Sauce (gluten-free)

½ tablespoon Hoisin Sauce

1dl/1 cup of Chopped Cilantro

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Coconut Cauliflower Rice

1 Grated Cauliflower

Brussels Sprouts

1 Zucchini

1 tablespoon Coconut Oil

Salt and Pepper

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How to: Fry the meat in a frying pan and add the rest of the ingredients and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.

Cup the Zucchini and the Brussels Sprouts add some olive oil and salt and roast them in the oven till they are crispy. Meanwhile grate the Cauliflower and fry it in a wok using the coconut oil this will give the cauliflower a nice flavor and season with salt and pepper. When the vegetables are ready from the oven mix them in with the cauliflower and serve with the Bolognese.

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Grab a friend and make a game plan

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The good thing with having a bad day is that the next day will most likely be a good one, right!

2013-02-12 14.41.57 This is the week John have left us to spend some time with his lady in Scotland so I figured it is pretty much up to myself to make sure that I will get my weekly weight training. One of the reason why I like to workout in a small group is that I always find myself pushing that little bit extra so today I meet up with Laura at Life Time Fitness. This will be the only time this week we are working out together as she is leaving for the sunny Florida tomorrow.

2013-02-12 14.43.56 Having a trainer makes you spoiled in more than just having a trainer because we never have to plan or think about what we are doing before we get into the gym. So yesterday I sat down and made up a plan and it was a long one. Both Laura and me like to do our cardio so we started the workout with a quick run doing intervals and then we moved into working the old legs and core.

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2013-02-12 14.47.00 Once we were at the barbell and were going to do squats none of us knew what weight we normally use because John always sets it for us, panic! We ended up adding on weight as we thought was appropriate and we surely did not put any light weights on because our legs were capped at the end and we did not even finish my long list of exercises before it was time for me to go and get Mira from school.

I guess I need to work on my time perception…lol

So how did it go…

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…Well, not so good after all but tomorrow I will laugh about this crappy day.

So my new plan for the day was to go to the gym between Mira’s play date and when I had to be at school to pick Knut up, that would be just perfect. As I am starting the treadmill for a nice fast run Freddie calls me and wants me to go out to Lake Zurich to pick him up which is just typical now when I finally made it into the gym for the workout that I had been longing for. I looked at the clock and realized I didn’t have enough time before I had to be at Knut’s school so I kept on running. But something happened, my legs had turned into stones and in my head I was cursing my poor judgment from Saturday night. After 20 very long and agonizing minutes I moved into doing some weights thinking that maybe the arms were not too affected. I was wrong but I pushed through it because I was not letting my body beat me! With screaming arms I left the gym and all the way up to Lake Zurich I felt absolutely exhausted, like all energy had left my body…

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Now I am going to recharge my batteries while my great hair colorist, Ella is coloring my hair and tomorrow I will start a new fresh day with a great new look 😉

 

This is my new Friend…the “Black Danger”

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Yesterday when we got into the car and started driving and we are out on the tollway I realize I left my “Blue Danger” in the closet!!! What a disaster, here I am planning my weekend away in every detail and I forget my runners. We were already late leaving the house so there was no way we were turning around either. I get real angry with myself and just stop talking because how could I be so stupid. I am trying to visualize myself running on the treadmill in my Uggs or barefoot and it is not a pretty sight.

As we get into the Resort area I see a sign for an Outlet, quickly I bring out my phone and Google to see where it is and what kind of stores they have. This is my lucky day; there is a Under Armour store just 3 minutes walk away from the hotel.  So after the games today Freddie dropped me off and here is my new “Black Danger”

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Came back to the hotel and then quickly changed into my workout clothes and went to the gym but when I got down there all the machines was taken so instead my friend showed me some basic Pilates moves for the core.

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After about 10 minutes one of the two functioning treadmills were available and I thought I would go for a quick run. I was running at 6.5 for 5 minutes then I started doing intervals at 6.5 and 7.0 every other minute for the next five. I then finished the last 10 minutes running at 6.5, 7.0 and 7.5 a minute each. It was not a long workout but after all it’s my day of rest!

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Chinese beef- and vegetable wok the Swedish way!

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600 grams shredded Beef

2 tablespoon grated fresh Ginger

1 chopped Garlic Clove

1 teaspoon Sambal Olek

1 tablespoon Soy Sauce (gluten-free)

1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar

1 ½ tablespoon Canola oil

1 ½ tablespoon Sesame oil

Salt and pepper

Cashew nuts, Cilantro and sesame seed for garnish.

Broccoli

Brussels sprouts

Cocktail tomatoes

Mix all the ingredients and let it sit for a while for the meat to infuse the spices.

Chop the broccoli and Brussels sprouts into small pieces and steam cook them until they where soft. Fry the meat quickly and mix in the vegetables at the end and serve with cocktail tomatoes, cashew nuts and cilantro.

Chines beef wok

Beef Fajita

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300 gram Beef Brisket

Cumin

Paprika powder

Garlic powder

Salt and pepper

Egg fajita

1 Egg

1 Egg white

Salt and pepper

Guacamole

1 Avocado

20 gram chopped red onion

75 gram chopped tomato

20 gram chopped cilantro

½ lime juice

Chili flakes

Salt and pepper

Start by mashing the avocado and mixing all the other ingredients together and put in the refrigerator. Fry the beef with all the spices, don’t over do unless you like your meat well done (I don’t). Whisk the egg together and make an omelette and make a fajita.

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