Friday, April 25, 2014
Paris Marathon 2014 - Official Photos
I finally got around the buying my Official photos from the Paris Marathon. I am not overly fond of the shots of me, but they are a memory of something amazing so I have to share! :)
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Zucchini Noodles
I absolutely love Zucchini Noodles!! I find they are the best addition to bolognaise dishes.
A while back I purchase a GEFU vegetable noodle maker and I use it regularly.
Tonight I made meatballs with zucchini noodles for BJ and myself. The children were not all that keen so they had leftover Fettucini from last night.
A while back I purchase a GEFU vegetable noodle maker and I use it regularly.
Tonight I made meatballs with zucchini noodles for BJ and myself. The children were not all that keen so they had leftover Fettucini from last night.
Kiwi, Pear, Apple & Ginger Smoothie
I am on a mission to have more smoothies - and for them to not be the same as my all time fave (Mango, Banana, Passoinfruit and Spinach).. so as such I am trying out a few, and found this one on a favourite blog of mine Deliciously Ella
It was absolutely delicious! Here is the recipe:
Makes 2 Smoothies:
- 2 kiwis
- 2 pears
- 2 red apples
- 1 hunk of ginger
Pretty simple - I put all the fruit in my Bellini with a little water and mixed until blended. Then I added more water to make it drinkable. It was absolutely delicious - I highly recommend.
Makes 2 Smoothies:
- 2 kiwis
- 2 pears
- 2 red apples
- 1 hunk of ginger
Pretty simple - I put all the fruit in my Bellini with a little water and mixed until blended. Then I added more water to make it drinkable. It was absolutely delicious - I highly recommend.
Monday, April 14, 2014
Hot Cross Buns
I found this amazing Hot Cross Bun recipe on another blog - Thermolicious. I am never buying Hot Cross Buns again!
Ingredients
400g milk
60g raw sugar
15g dry yeast (4 tsp)
650g bakers flour
2 tsp salt
90g butter
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
200g mixed dried fruit
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
Extra butter
Method
Place milk into Bellini bowl and cook for 2 minutes at 60C on speed 1.
Place remaining ingredients (in order of the recipe list) into the Bellini bowl except the dried fruit and choc chips, and mix for 6 seconds on speed 7.
Place dried fruit into the Bellini bowl and mix for 10 seconds on speed 5.
Set dial to closed lid position and knead for 4 minutes on Speed 2.
Remove from Bellini bowl and put into a bowl to prove. As the dough is quite sticky, use buttered hands to make it easier to remove from the Bellini bowl.
Put in a warm place to prove for 1 to 1.5 hours until dough more than doubles in size.
Grease a large baking tray (30cm x 40cm) (you can use baking paper but I find that I get a better bun if it is baked directly on the tray).
With buttered hands pull off enough dough for a dinner roll size bun, press 4-6 chocolate chips into the base and fold over to enclose and create a smooth top on your bun. Makes about 24.
Place onto baking tray about 1cm apart so that they have room to grow. Cover and let prove for about an hour until the buns are touching each other.
Pipe with crosses and bake in a pre-heated oven at 220C for 12 minutes or until a golden colour. Leave oven on.
Brush with hot sugar syrup and then place back into the oven for another minute to set the glaze.
Piping Mixture
Place 50g water, 40g plain flour, 1/2 tsp light olive oil and a pinch of salt in Bellini bowl and mix to combine for 30 seconds on speed 4.
Scrape down sides if necessary and mix again until mixture is smooth and of pancake consistency. Pour into a piping bag (or a ziplock/freezer bag and snip a tiny bit off the corner) and pipe out the crosses onto the buns.
Sugar syrup
Dissolve 3 tbsp raw sugar in 3 tbsp of boiling water by stirring vigorously.
Best eaten straight from the oven whilst warm!
Ingredients
400g milk
60g raw sugar
15g dry yeast (4 tsp)
650g bakers flour
2 tsp salt
90g butter
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
200g mixed dried fruit
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
Extra butter
Method
Place milk into Bellini bowl and cook for 2 minutes at 60C on speed 1.
Place remaining ingredients (in order of the recipe list) into the Bellini bowl except the dried fruit and choc chips, and mix for 6 seconds on speed 7.
Place dried fruit into the Bellini bowl and mix for 10 seconds on speed 5.
Set dial to closed lid position and knead for 4 minutes on Speed 2.
Remove from Bellini bowl and put into a bowl to prove. As the dough is quite sticky, use buttered hands to make it easier to remove from the Bellini bowl.
Put in a warm place to prove for 1 to 1.5 hours until dough more than doubles in size.
With buttered hands pull off enough dough for a dinner roll size bun, press 4-6 chocolate chips into the base and fold over to enclose and create a smooth top on your bun. Makes about 24.
Place onto baking tray about 1cm apart so that they have room to grow. Cover and let prove for about an hour until the buns are touching each other.
Pipe with crosses and bake in a pre-heated oven at 220C for 12 minutes or until a golden colour. Leave oven on.
Brush with hot sugar syrup and then place back into the oven for another minute to set the glaze.
Piping Mixture
Place 50g water, 40g plain flour, 1/2 tsp light olive oil and a pinch of salt in Bellini bowl and mix to combine for 30 seconds on speed 4.
Scrape down sides if necessary and mix again until mixture is smooth and of pancake consistency. Pour into a piping bag (or a ziplock/freezer bag and snip a tiny bit off the corner) and pipe out the crosses onto the buns.
Sugar syrup
Dissolve 3 tbsp raw sugar in 3 tbsp of boiling water by stirring vigorously.
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Paris Marathon 2014 Race Report
Last weekend I ran in the 2014 Paris Marathon and loved it... I've been running consistently for about 18 months, I've done a few 5k Park Runs, a 10km and felt the need to push it more to do a half or full. When we booked our European Vacation and I noticed the Paris Marathon was on when we were finishing our trip I thought it was a sign... I didn't really think about the 4 weeks before when we would be travelling through Europe - eating and drinking lots, and maybe it wouldn't be the best preparation.. Oh well all done now - and I wouldn't change a thing! I love Paris too and thought it would be an amazing first marathon experience.
My preparation was a 16 week program I found on Runners World for beginners and it was fantastic. I followed it pretty much to the dollar and enjoyed it - maybe not so much when I was doing my big early Saturday morning runs - but I did it, and had my goal in sight.
The day began at 5.45am where I ate some Porridge and a banana for breakfast. After a quick shower I took the metro to the Charles de Gaulle Etoile metro station (right near the Arc de Triomphe). Here's my selfie at the hotel trying to psych myself up!
I was there very early but was just taking in the atmosphere and quietly panicking! I had been chatting to a big group of runners on the runners world forum and we had arranged to meet and have a group photo at the Arc De Triomphe just before 8am.
I made it with plenty of time and chatted to a few of them (they were lots of people), and it was lovely to meet some people I'd been chatting to for months. One of the ladies in the group Kirsten was also in my pen so we walked down and settled in to wait for the start and took some photos and tried to soak up the atmosphere.
There were only 2 toilets in each pen which was absolutely ridiculous, so we first off lined up for the toilet. We thought why not - no doubt we would be needing it later so may as well try to use it first up.
The first wave (the elite group) started at 8:45am, and there were waves for every 15 mins of goal time after that starting with 3 hours. I was in the last wave for 4hrs 30 and over and we started at approx 9:50am - so had lots of waiting! I was trying to get my head around the race and knew there were drink stops every 5-6km, so just tried to break it down into 8 x 5km runs which are do-able, instead of a 42.2km run.
Here are my splits:
0-10k: I was running pretty much to plan until 10km when I had to go to the loo. I was not going to pee on the side of the road or in a bush as so many others did so I lined up for a toilet which unfortunately took 6 mins off my time. I was a bit disappointed as I was on track with my times until that point (which was to beat 5 hrs, and do under 7 mins/km avg. The marathon started on the Champs Elysee and ran downhill to the Place de la Concorde, took a left and ran down Rue de Rivoli past the Louvre Museum, Hotel de Ville and to Place de la Bastille. The drum bands, singers etc at every few kms were just amazing! It was so entertaining. I hardly listened to my music because I was too busy taking it all in!
10k-20k: From 10km-20km we went through a more residential part of the course and then into the Bois de Vincennes Park. The Chateau de Vincennes was just gorgeous to run past.
20k-30k: We headed back into the City and along the Seine and past Notre Dame Cathedral. I was drinking water at each stop and having a shot blok at each water stop too and that seemed to work. I felt strong. At the Half Marathon point they had Powerade so I grabbed a bottle and drank the majority of it. It was a nice boost. At 28km we ended up in the first tunnel, including the one where Diana was killed. The longest tunnel was very dark and 850 metres long, and they tried to liven up by having DJ's with disco lighting. I loved it - I wanted to start dancing.. but lots of people weren't too impressed with it. I did not love the steep inclines out of the tunnels. Just before 30km we came to the Eiffel Tour.. what a beautiful sight!! I was happy to see we were nearly down to less than 10km to go... single digits I could do!
30k-40km: We kept pushing through past the major sites and headed back through some residential streets. We ran past the Roland Garros Tennis Courts (which I was excited to see as I am a big French Open fan), and headed into the Bois De Boulogne Park. I knew this was the last stretch so tried to push it but my legs felt like lead! There were so many people walking and I was walking/running, but trying to run more than walk!!
42.2K The End was in site! The crowd was amazing! The amount of people who were yelling out "Allez Australie", "Allez Rachel" - it was incredible and just kept me going! My official final time was 5:24:05 which was considerably slower than my goal of 4:30-4:59. It is all good though - It was a learning experience, and I can always try to beat it next time. Next marathon I won't be travelling for 4 weeks beforehand with little to no running, and I will definitely be more realistic with my goals.
My preparation was a 16 week program I found on Runners World for beginners and it was fantastic. I followed it pretty much to the dollar and enjoyed it - maybe not so much when I was doing my big early Saturday morning runs - but I did it, and had my goal in sight.
The day began at 5.45am where I ate some Porridge and a banana for breakfast. After a quick shower I took the metro to the Charles de Gaulle Etoile metro station (right near the Arc de Triomphe). Here's my selfie at the hotel trying to psych myself up!
I was there very early but was just taking in the atmosphere and quietly panicking! I had been chatting to a big group of runners on the runners world forum and we had arranged to meet and have a group photo at the Arc De Triomphe just before 8am.
I made it with plenty of time and chatted to a few of them (they were lots of people), and it was lovely to meet some people I'd been chatting to for months. One of the ladies in the group Kirsten was also in my pen so we walked down and settled in to wait for the start and took some photos and tried to soak up the atmosphere.
There were only 2 toilets in each pen which was absolutely ridiculous, so we first off lined up for the toilet. We thought why not - no doubt we would be needing it later so may as well try to use it first up.
The first wave (the elite group) started at 8:45am, and there were waves for every 15 mins of goal time after that starting with 3 hours. I was in the last wave for 4hrs 30 and over and we started at approx 9:50am - so had lots of waiting! I was trying to get my head around the race and knew there were drink stops every 5-6km, so just tried to break it down into 8 x 5km runs which are do-able, instead of a 42.2km run.
Here are my splits:
10k-20k: From 10km-20km we went through a more residential part of the course and then into the Bois de Vincennes Park. The Chateau de Vincennes was just gorgeous to run past.
20k-30k: We headed back into the City and along the Seine and past Notre Dame Cathedral. I was drinking water at each stop and having a shot blok at each water stop too and that seemed to work. I felt strong. At the Half Marathon point they had Powerade so I grabbed a bottle and drank the majority of it. It was a nice boost. At 28km we ended up in the first tunnel, including the one where Diana was killed. The longest tunnel was very dark and 850 metres long, and they tried to liven up by having DJ's with disco lighting. I loved it - I wanted to start dancing.. but lots of people weren't too impressed with it. I did not love the steep inclines out of the tunnels. Just before 30km we came to the Eiffel Tour.. what a beautiful sight!! I was happy to see we were nearly down to less than 10km to go... single digits I could do!
30k-40km: We kept pushing through past the major sites and headed back through some residential streets. We ran past the Roland Garros Tennis Courts (which I was excited to see as I am a big French Open fan), and headed into the Bois De Boulogne Park. I knew this was the last stretch so tried to push it but my legs felt like lead! There were so many people walking and I was walking/running, but trying to run more than walk!!
42.2K The End was in site! The crowd was amazing! The amount of people who were yelling out "Allez Australie", "Allez Rachel" - it was incredible and just kept me going! My official final time was 5:24:05 which was considerably slower than my goal of 4:30-4:59. It is all good though - It was a learning experience, and I can always try to beat it next time. Next marathon I won't be travelling for 4 weeks beforehand with little to no running, and I will definitely be more realistic with my goals.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
European Adventures - Day 29 - Home Sweet Home!
We are home!
We arrived home at 5.30am - which was pretty quickly through customs / passport control. Unfortunately though when I walked in the door the first thing I saw was creepy crawlies.. joy of living in the tropics. I straight away started cleaning out the kitchen - washing all dishes and killed all bugs. Then I thought I may as well re-arrange the cupboards LOL. BJ went to bed and the kids stayed up with me watching TV (i have no idea how as they were tired). I had a grocery delivery booked between 7.30 and 10.30am so had to stay up! The groceries finally arrived at 10am so as soon as they were put away in my sparkling clean (bug free) kitchen I headed to bed. The boys were still awake, as was Izzy so they were playing with their iPads and watching TV.
I woke at 4pm and the boys apparently went to bed just after I did and slept almost as long. I woke to find Isabel asleep on the lounge room rug!
Anyhow we are stoked to be home, and to get back into our normal routine. I have a lot of plans for the rest of the year so will be sharing them as well as lots of recipes (as I want to get right back into cooking) over the next few weeks.
Here was the gorgeous view I came to when I walked onto my balcony this morning:
We arrived home at 5.30am - which was pretty quickly through customs / passport control. Unfortunately though when I walked in the door the first thing I saw was creepy crawlies.. joy of living in the tropics. I straight away started cleaning out the kitchen - washing all dishes and killed all bugs. Then I thought I may as well re-arrange the cupboards LOL. BJ went to bed and the kids stayed up with me watching TV (i have no idea how as they were tired). I had a grocery delivery booked between 7.30 and 10.30am so had to stay up! The groceries finally arrived at 10am so as soon as they were put away in my sparkling clean (bug free) kitchen I headed to bed. The boys were still awake, as was Izzy so they were playing with their iPads and watching TV.
I woke at 4pm and the boys apparently went to bed just after I did and slept almost as long. I woke to find Isabel asleep on the lounge room rug!
Anyhow we are stoked to be home, and to get back into our normal routine. I have a lot of plans for the rest of the year so will be sharing them as well as lots of recipes (as I want to get right back into cooking) over the next few weeks.
Here was the gorgeous view I came to when I walked onto my balcony this morning:
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
European Adventures - Day 28 - Kuala Lumpur
Not much happening today but thought I'd better keep the days going since only 1 more day to go!!
We were planning on heading to Batu Caves and Petronis Towers today but BJ and the kids didn't wake up until 12.30pm. So a nice big sleep in for the four of them! So we decided to just head to the local mall to have McDonalds for lunch (which was disgusting by the way), then back to the pool in the hotel for a swim and cocktail.... Perfect day really - except for the Maccas which just made us feel really ill! We are headed to the airport at 6.30pm - catching taxi to KL Sentral, then KLIA Express from KL Sentral to KLIA. Hopefully it'll be smooth running and we will be in our own beds this time tomorrow.)
Here are some pics of the kids at the pool, and us having some cocktails! :)
We were planning on heading to Batu Caves and Petronis Towers today but BJ and the kids didn't wake up until 12.30pm. So a nice big sleep in for the four of them! So we decided to just head to the local mall to have McDonalds for lunch (which was disgusting by the way), then back to the pool in the hotel for a swim and cocktail.... Perfect day really - except for the Maccas which just made us feel really ill! We are headed to the airport at 6.30pm - catching taxi to KL Sentral, then KLIA Express from KL Sentral to KLIA. Hopefully it'll be smooth running and we will be in our own beds this time tomorrow.)
Here are some pics of the kids at the pool, and us having some cocktails! :)
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