It Finally Happened

Nearly three weeks into my trip here, I finally had some fish and chips.

It was just as bland and greasy as it looks and probably won't be indulging in it again anytime soon. The cider was good though. Last night, the roomie, Husband and I went to a pub called Ham and Blackbird. It's right by the train station was heavily populated but the menu was lacking a bit. We didn't stick around for the live music but will probably be back for more at a later date.

Today, I woke up bright and early and went to the travel agency to book our Belgium trip. We have had a few more issues by not having a chip and pin card and had to figure a way around paying for a vacation around that. We did it and it looks like we will soon be investing in a prepaid chip and pin card. It will solve countless problems. So before you go abroad, check to see if in fact your Visa or Mastercard is accepted worldwide.

Lunch

I came home and had some lunch which consisted of ratatouille and this beautiful salad of greens, goat cheese, pomegranate and pumpkin seeds topped with honey and mustard dressing.

Pomegranates can be a tricky fruit to deal with. There are approximately 613 seeds in each one (at least that's what I learned in Sunday school) and the juice stains everything it gets on. And it does get on everything. I can't remember where I came across this method but thought it was worth sharing with you.

You will need a sharp knife, a spoon and medium mixing bowl full of water. First, cut the pomegranate in half. Submerge one half in the bowl and scoop out the seeds with a spoon.

Next, you'll have to remove any rings that you are wearing and start to separate the pulp from the seeds. The water does three things: keeps the juice from staining your hands, keeps the juice from squirting everywhere and allows the seeds to sink to the bottom while the pulp stays afloat. Once the seeds have been separated, you can strain away the pulp and water, leaving delicious pomegranate seeds perfect for salads or simple snacking.

I counteracted this very nutritious meal by spending my evening at The Real China, a Chinese buffet in Camberley. The food was good and surprisingly, I didn't walk away stuffed. We got back and the Husband and I took our evening walk. We took a new route by his work. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera but we did find a cute park with some interesting structures. The Husband took this picture previously.

I am still not motivated to work out and expressed this to the Husband. He has been so supportive during my weight loss journey in every aspect and came up with a GREAT idea. He only works like a half mile away from the apartment and has to walk there every day. While I do walk around most days and then enjoy my evening walks, he suggested I wake up with him, walk him to work in my workout gear and then jog around town for a bit. I know everyone says you should work out in the morning but this may just help me get motivated.

Here's a new question for you:

What gets you motivated to workout in the morning?

A Sweet Picture

Last night was totally laid back but so nice. Shortly after my last post, the Husband came home from work. The roommate was on his way out of town for work for the night so it was just the two of us. I quickly whipped up some Indian food complete with butternut squash basmati rice and na'an of course! No recipe this time, since it's just chicken and veggies in a simmer sauce.

Since the sun doesn't set until 10pm or later, we have decided to take a walk after dinner. There was a park I had seen a few times by the train station so we took a stroll and walked around the Queen Elizabeth Park.

The park was not exactly as I had imagined but we went exploring anyways. It wasn't very populated but so natural.

We found a bench to sit down on and enjoy the dessert we picked up on our way to the park.

Now THAT's a sweet picture.

Nothing comes between the Husband and chocolate, not even me holding the spoon ransom.

It was a little pathetic so I gave in.

We also met some friends. The lab just ran up and gave me his stick to throw. I humored him just as much as he humored me. His friend didn't know what was going...he was just chasing the lab.

Then we came across a play ground. Check out the awesome swing!

They even had rock walls. Sadly, we couldn't even go in. Remember the signs that say "children under XX not allowed unless with adult"? This is the opposite , apparently. Check out the last line before the "DO NOT" signs: "No adults unless with children."

It started to look like it was going to rain so after almost 2 hours, we headed home. We took a detour into a residential area and met some more friends.

This maine coon reminded me of Franklin (Falafel's best friend and former roommate). The owner of the house where we met this guy also has another maine coon.

We made it home dry and called it a night. 

Breakfast


This morning, I woke up and made breakfast. On the menu was coffee, plum, and an English muffin with laughing cow cheese, Quorn back (vegetarian) and tomatoes. YUM!

I have learned that England is extremely vegetarian friendly. There's a much wider selection of faux meat products than what I'm used to and all restaurants offer a variety of vegetarian options. I am not a vegetarian but I do love veggies.

Lunch

Around 11:30 I started lunch. I got my inspiration for ratatouille over at Gina's Skinny Recipes. How good do these colors look?

Here's what I used:

1 tsp olive oil

4 cloves garlic

1 large leek, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1 bell pepper (any color, I used orange), chopped

1 large eggplant, chopped

6 small tomatoes

1 zucchini, sliced

Fresh basil

Fresh parsley

salt and pepper

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

The recipe called for two onions. I the onions that I had were small and I had a leek that was on it's last day. Good thing you just peel back the layers to the good part!

In a bit of olive oil, I cooked the onion, leek, 4 cloves of garlic and just one bell pepper (I decided to leave the red one out because they were both good size peppers and the one looked like enough).

After about 5 minutes, I added the tomatoes and eggplant. I forgot to salt the eggplant before I added it but it came out great anyways. I also didn't peel the eggplant. I like to leave the skin on everything I can even down to kiwis. A little extra fiber never hurt anyone.

Cover it and let it simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the zucchini and cover to simmer for another 10.

I added salt, pepper, basil and parsley and a blend of dried herbs we had on hand. The last step of the recipe calls to add breadcrumbs. The bread crumbs absorb most of the remaining liquid. I did this step but will leave it out in the future as I made some couscous to accompany the ratatouille. 

All-in-all, it was very good. It was so nice to have a fresh light meal here since everything is very heavy. If I were at home, I would have added a few more herbs like thyme and rosemary (which are called for in the original), but I'm the only one in the house that would use such ingredients and I'm only here for seven more weeks.

I had the ingredients for a summer salad which looks delish but I was quite satisfied with what I had.

I also got to Skype with my mother today (Hi, Mom). I've been in contact with her but it has been almost a week since I've heard her voice.

I suppose you've had enough of this post by now, so until next time, cheers!