Saturday, 10 July 2010

Japanese Night

Tonight I am making Sukiyaki and Gyoza for my partner and his parents. Greg's Mum is making Sushi. We love Japanese food and it is really healthy.

Gyoza (Japanese Dumplings)


400g pork mince
1/4 of Chinese Cabbage (wombok) finely diced
1 tbs ginger finely diced
3 button mushrooms finely diced
3 spring onions finely diced
2 garlic cloves finely diced
2 tbs soy sauce (salt reduced)
1 tsp sugar (I used stevia)
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbs oil for frying
water for the gyoza basting

Sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce (salt reduced)
1/2 cup rice vinegar

Filling
Very finely dice the cabbage, button mushrooms, ginger, garlic and spring onions. Combine the cabbage, mushrooms, spring onions, garlic, ginger and the ground pork together. Add the soy sauce, brown sugar and sesame oil and mix well.

Assembly
Place one teaspoon of the filling onto a circle of dough. Moisten one edge with water and bring the edges together, pinch and crimp the Gyoza closed, moulding into a small 'pasty' or 'moneybag' shape. Repeat with the remaining filling mixture and wrappers.

Cooking
Heat a large frypan, add a little oil and fry batches of the Gyoza until the bottoms are slightly golden brown. Add enough water so that it reaches half way up the sides of the Gyoza. Ensure the frypan keeps a high heat and wait until all the water has evaporated. Remove the gyoza from the pan and serve with the following dipping sauces.

1/2 cup soy sauce (salt reduced)

1/2 cup rice vinegar

or 
1/3 cup Teriyaki sauce
1 tsp sesame oil

recipe adapted from http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/20353/gyoza+japanese+dumplings 


Sukiyaki


500g thinly sliced beef (almost see through) 
1/2 Chinese Cabbage (Wombok)
 Rice noodles (Cellophane Noodles)
2 carrots sliced length ways and into 5cm pieces
3 shallots sliced length ways and into 5cm pieces
1 tin bamboo shoots 
1 tin bean shoots
1 celery stalk sliced length ways and into 5cm pieces
1 onion sliced into slivers
3 Mushrooms sliced
Tofu

Sauce
1 cup beef stock 
1/4 cup Mirin
 1/2 cup soy sauce

Cook
Add sauce boil
add hard vegetables cook for 1-4 mins
add soft vegies
add tofu and beef 
serve with raw egg in bowl

recipe from our Japanese friend Kyoshi. Tofu omitted as I forgot to buy it!
other photos to come!



Photos of the night!
 
 

Thursday, 8 July 2010

fat to fit - Say NO to winter weight gain!



How do we prevent winter weight gain?

Ways to prevent a winter weight gain:
  • Water - Drink 6-8 glasses of water. Carry a water bottle (BPA free) 
  • keep up other liquids- soup, cordial, tea, coffee, diet/sugar free soft drinks.
  • Exercise- keep up your exercise, it maybe cold outside but you can still keep up the normal routine. Run on a treadmill, walk with friends (or pet), go for a bike ride, Zumba or group sports
  • Track- by tracking what food and drink we consume we are more likely to not have a weight gain. If it passes your lips write it down, any licks, sips and tastes too.
  • Portions- Weigh and measure all your food as it is easy for your meal sizes to increase over winter. It is a natural occurrence as body fat used to be what kept us warm.
  • Preparation- plan your meals and exercise for the week. That way you are more likely to stay committed. 



Here are some ideas that I am trying this week:
  • Change my meal choices (use different ingredients to make it healthier e.g. stock instead of butter and milk in mash)
  • Cut down on sugar (includes sweeteners and honey)
  • Eat more unprocessed foods (steel cut oats instead of Uncle Tobys Quick Oats or Weight Wise Oats)
  • Drink less alcohol
  • Exercise more - make a date with yourself
  • Plan meals for the week (saves time and money)
  • Cook a soup for lunch
How are you going to change and prevent a winter gain?


Pedometer readings for the week of 2nd July - 8th July

Friday
3450 steps
2.17km
Saturday
4715 steps
2.97km  
Sunday
0 steps
20km MTB ride
0km 
(forgot to wear)
Monday
6124 steps
3.85km
Tuesday
5749 steps
3.62km
Wednesday
478 steps
0.03km 
(paused accidentally)

Thursday



I've been on holidays and a bit slack this week... Again!
This week I cracked 20km on my Mountain Bike Ride at Daisy Hill Brisbane and did 2 workouts

Measurements
Waist: 71cm (at smallest part) (same as last week)
Hips: 83cm (on hip bone) (up 1cm from last week)
Bust: 87cm
Arms: Right 25cm Left 24cm (1cm difference between left and right) 
Thighs: Right 49.5cm Left 49cm
Weight: 51.0kg (51.7kg yesterday @ Official Weigh in)

What I acheived last week: 

  • Exercise 2 workouts
  • Track - need to do more tracking
  • Cut back portion sizes I even put food into the fridge when I had eaten enough
  • Back into routine I still need to do this back to work on Monday might help
  • Get out and ride 20+km on Sunday
  • Run need to do this
  • Walk the dog I might do this this afternoon if the weather holds off

My things to do this week
  • Exercise
  • Track
  • Cut back portion sizes
  • Back into routine 
  • Get out and ride
  • Run
  • Walk the dog

What are you going to do?




Tuesday, 6 July 2010

Post-it-note Tuesday

Today is post-it-note Tuesday



Here is my post-it
Getting back into the exercise routine. Lets see if I can continue next week as school returns.

What's on your post-it-notes today?

Monday, 5 July 2010

100 Steps Challenge

School Holiday Bliss

Daily Multivitamins 

I bought a few patterns cheap at my local fabric store. 

Earlier in the week my partners parents got a spa delivered. It had to be craned over the top of the house. (photos of that later as my camera battery is charging)

 My partner Greg in the warm water, it was still a little cold for me at this stage. After dinner it was warmer.


Here is a meal I tried earlier in the week: Continental Cook in a Bag Chicken (Smoky BBQ)

Yesterday I enjoyed a chilly ride at Daisy Hill in Brisbane's Southern Suburbs. It was 6 degrees when we began our 20+km ride. (the boys did some extra trails that I didn't do)
 
This morning I have been sewing again.

This time I did a refashion of a dress I bought earlier in the year from my local op shop. I loved the fabric and the top fitted quite well; the skirt part of the dress was not flattering. 

So I chopped it in 1/2 and made it into a top by cutting off the sash and reattaching it to the bottom to make a side tie. I am still undecided if I want to make the skirt into a flowy skirt with elastic on the skirt top. So Out of a $30 dress I have a cute top and maybe a skirt too. Bonus!

 A bit of pinning and sewing and viola...
back
Front


This top will look so cute with jeans or brown pants. What do you think?
I got the idea for the dress refashion from New Dress a Day!

I hope you have had a great week.

Saturday, 3 July 2010

New hair do

On Thursday I got my hair done. Lately I've been admiring women with hair above their shoulders. I've had the same style for a while just varying lengths. So I jumped at the chance to cut it short like I had when I first started teaching.

Thursday, 1 July 2010

Polly Dolly - At Work




At work - Business Faculty



As a High School Teacher I am asked to teach in a number of faculties, mine are currently Business/ IT, English and PE. So I need two different types of work outfits. On Tuesday and Wednesday I have the PE class called Get Active so I wear clothes to suit, the rest of the week I dress business like.

fat to fit - exercise = HOT Body





I accidentally edited over this post! Blonde! I posted a really good one last week (maybe I should back up my blog?) So this one is similar to the one I did.

 How to jump any exercise Hurdle this winter?



Exercise is the key element to losing weight!
  • Use a pedometer to count all your steps- incidental exercise adds up too. A pedometer tracks how many steps you take and how far you walk. Try and add an extra 10 minutes each week. You should aim to walk 10,000 steps a day. (I am at 8696steps for my weight an height) I use a weight Watchers motion sensor pedometer.
  • Join a gym- I have been a member of 3 gyms - two of which I had personal trainers to help me through winter. Now  I know exactly what exercise I have to do to maintain my weight. If you cant afford a gym there are many exercises you can do in your home or in a park that get the same results.
  • DVD- There are many exercise DVDs out there - rent them from the video store then consider purchasing. I use a website http://bodyrock.tv for my exercise routine (also @ http://zuzanalight.com)
  • How much exercise is enough- to benefit your health 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day, moderate intensity includes: brisk walks, light jogging, cycling, exercise classes and swimming. For weight loss: 60 minutes of activity a day. To increase fitness 30-45 minutes of vigorous cardio activity 3-5 times a week as well as stretching - yoga or pilates and strength training as weights or resistance training.,
  • Find your inner child- Go play in the park, skip rope, dance around the living room
  • Preparation- put your gym gear in the car or lay it out so you can put it on in the morning. Studies have shown that if you have your workout clothes on or ready you are more likely to do the activity then not.
Create your own home gym and routine: 

  • A green grocery bag filled with weighted items -use it to do upright rows
  • Walking lunges down the hallway
  • chair- dips
  • cushion - wide leg squats over the pillow
  • litre bottles of water- bicep curls
  • steps- step ups (like using the stair climber a the gym)
  • exercises that use your own body weight (I use the ones in Zuzana's routine at http://bodyrock.tv
  • Push-Up – the width of your hand placements to get a different workouts. Alternatively, you can elevate your feet above your torso for more difficulty
  • Calf Raises – can be done on stair steps or an elevated surface; do them standing.
Set these exercises up as a circuit, I use my Gymboss timer for 30-60 seconds with a 10 second rest. 

Remember any activity is better than none! NO EXCUSES!



Pedometer readings for the week of 25th July - 1st July

Friday
8826 steps
5.56km
Saturday
105 steps
0.06km
 (paused accidentally) 
Sunday
6493steps
4.09km 
Monday
4157 steps
2.61km
Tuesday
3518 steps
2.21km
Wednesday
4504 steps
2.83km 
Thursday
3966steps
2.49km

I've been on holidays and a bit slack this week.

Measurements
Waist: 71cm (at smallest part) (same as last week)
Hips: 83cm (on hip bone) (up 1cm from last week)
Bust: 87cm
Arms: Right 25cm Left 24cm (1cm difference between left and right) 
Thighs: Right 49.5cm Left 49cm
Weight: 50.4kg (50.4kg this morning 6am)

My focus for this week:
  • Exercise
  • Track
  • Cut back portion sizes
  • Back into routine 
  • Get out and ride
  • Run
  • Walk the dog

What is your focus?