Day 62

Dinner with Lables!


One of the most wonderful women in the world came over for dinner...in the accelerated program for med-school Laurabeth Guenthner has been studying all week for a test she had today so what better way to end it than with a Jamie meal...

Unfortunately we devoured the chicken too quickly and I forgot to take a picture but I made the chicken, leeks, cream, cannellini beans and marjoram with potatoes... with the artichoke and grapefruit salad to start and the pineapple with mint sugar to finish..
The only pic I remembered was the salad!


With wonderful conversation and the promise of a fabulous cake on sunday I went to bed very happy! ...only one thing on to worry about now.... 20x400 freestyle in the morning!


Good night everyone, I need some rest!!

Day 60

On-call tonight.


On call for the Crisis Center as associate tonight so a quick dinner makes me feel less stressed, I don't want to have the oven and burners on and then be called out to a crisis!


So I made the Roasted halibut with Lemon, Anchovies, Capers and Rosemary with the Swiss Card and Cannellini beans and rice.


Still not really a bean fan, its just a texture thing...don't like them! But the rest of the meal was good!! YUMMY and healthy...after speaking with the nutritionist the other day I feel like I am back on track with the portion control and really starting to understand a balanced meal.

Also I got some ice-cream for a kids style Smushin from Jamies Kids Club section...after that set today and today in general I need to go back in age and be a BIG KID again!

Day 59

Tables still upside down!!! 


Tuesday was Ben's day to cook, and cook he did!!! Challenge PVK vs Hessen was ON and it was too close to call... Ben had peppers filled with cream cheese wrapped in bacon with the BIGGEST homemade burgers known to mankind and corn on the cob, with Derby Pie for dessert..


Food coma!



The Derby Pie almost didn't find room in my stomach, but after the first bite I knew I had to find space, it was delicious!! Thanks Ben!!

Day 58

Turned Tables with PVK

Well over half way and the tables turned tonight... PVK cooked an amazing meal of marinated chicken and salad and wild rice with cookie sandwiches turned milkshake for dessert...it was wonderful to enjoy such a delicious meal cooked by someone else! We have a deal to do it more often now...I'm next! On it like sonic. YUM

Day 56 and 57

Epic Sunday Roast


Saturday unfolded with one of the hardest practices after Friday's great day in the water. I was so tired and my hips felt like they were scraping the bottom of the pool.
Then straight to the first day of Crisis Center training..I am now an in-house-trainer so at the end of their training I will be coaching up the newbies while they are on their observation shifts and first few shifts.. its so exciting seeing all my crisis center family and catching up with them all, and seeing all the fresh new faces who are scared and excited all at the same time!

Lunch was a quick artichoke salad before the estates pool party.
I much preferred these artichokes to the baked ones the other day, they fit well for a quick easy lunch and they are good for me!

Sunday was the epic feast I have been waiting for, with Matt Shead in town (possibly one of my favorite people in the world!) a full english roast was on the menu. Roast beef, potatoes, carrots yorkshire puddings and gravy...as I said.. EPIC. Everything went to plan and I ended up serving 11 people!!! Wasn't expecting so many but hey I had enough food, after buying 7.5lbs of beef with a little beef and potatoes left over..


Success, except something over smoked in the oven and I smoked the whole house and I might have needed a little more gravy as the house was getting full of people and I started stressing that the food wasn't yet ready!

Day 54

Steak Sarnie and Blue Morphs

Recuperated from the meet and back on the grind, my Yorkies now look like Yorkies and I think I might be ready for this EPIC meal that will be my first English Roast on Sunday.

Brian and I went to the Butterfly museum today, the number one attraction in Gainesville and one that I have yet to see, today was the day! I had a favorite for sure with the Blue Morph, he was so pretty and he landed on my leg. It really was beautiful in there with many different species of butterflies, if you are ever in Gainesville you should check it out!

So today was a quick fix steak sarnie for lunch, with four days over half way and only 34 dishes left to go and 8 desserts I believe I have this challenge by the horns...only problems will be that I might have left all the hard ones til the end! If I continue to eat out I might not have enough days... but I will not quit that easily if it comes down to one last day of inviting the WHOLE team over for a random table of food then so be it, but I don't think it will come to that!
Also yesterday was brownie day, it was needed!! So I made some cheesecake swirled brownies, YUMMY!

Day 51

Back from ultra swim

Back home to a power outage, tree down through the fence and chlorinated lungs! Got to love te week after the Charlotte Ultra Swim!


Monday off after an 8hr bus ride playing plants vs zombies on my iPhone the whole way back. So Monday was errand day.




Courgette bread (or zucchini as they call it in the US) with pheasant and pomegranate seeds and ricotta cheese with runner beans and tomato sauce for dinner with Ellese and Claire.

After my salad for lunch, I wanted to try the japaneese moli but they didn't have them in fresh market so I used the same grilled lemon dressing on my own salad with the left over zucchini and spinach.

Finally today I attempted Yorkshire puddings, Matt Shead is coming down with a couple of the FSU boys this weekend and the full roast is on the menu for Sunday dinner, only these Yorkshires are proving a little more difficult than I expected, more like Yorkshire Cakes!!! But its ok I have until Sunday to figure them out!!

Day 48

Indiana Boys for Dinner, with a few pealing issues!
Practice, weights and an extra boxing session then another lazy day. Tuesday's and Thursday's are my favorite!


Dinner for Ben and JK, possibly two of the funniest boys I have met and Parma ham, egg, cheese and Basil Bread on the menu with Chicken in SeaSalt and Fennel seeds with Fennel and Tomatoes.

The bread turned out perfect except I had a few issues boiling and then pealing the eggs, I left a lot of the white in the shell but luckily none of the shell in the egg!!

I also had a few issues with the tomatos when trying to peal them, I got some pips down my white top. But again I had another successful dinner!

Day 47

Salami and Fennel

Monday started easy, we were out of the pool half an hour early, then weights. The evening session after a short meeting about this weekends meet in Charlotte, the anual meet that we dread year after year, but for some reason I feel like we are getting slightly ready to swim faster this year than all previous.


So after an easy(ish) day I made the Salami and fennel dish, Jamie warned it would be rich, and very rich it was indeed. I struggled to finish it but it was fabulous. I definitely enjoyed the fried breadcrumbs which gave it a crunchy texture. 

Day 46

Dinner with Ashley


I am typing this on my new iPhone which I am loving btw, and these pictures are much better quality than my blackberry!


But Sunday night dinner minus all the dogs with Ash was perfect after a long lazy day of me-time! Ash is a vegi so I made the broccoli pasta with half anchovys and half without and it turned out fab, maybe a little too much red chili spice for my liking but she said it was perfect! Another Jamie success story and back to the grind tomorrow! I have defiantly made a huge dent in my challenge but a lot of what's left I am either skeptical to try or skeptical to make due to difficulty or time. But I think I might be about half way in both dishes and days. So happy days!!

Day 45

Dog sitting weekend



With most people out of town I have acquired 3 dogs! Carter and Scout are absolutely beautiful!!  

Scout

Carter

We had a little issue on Friday with either Carter or Zues who pooped in the house and ate all the food I had for Carter, I am not going to lie that was NOT a good start to the weekend, but after that we settled well and had a good one!

I tried the artichokes on Saturday too, and I really liked the stuffing  but I was not a fan of the actual artichoke itself!!! Preparing them was fun but not sure I will be having them again any time soon! 

Day 43

Back with good news!


Sorry I have been MIA for a few days, with Liz's graduation and practice I have eaten out quite a lot and so today I decided to come back with a bang!


We have made slow contact with the people who do Jamie Oliver's website and they want to feature something about this here blog on his website! I am so excited, I even tackled the Oysters after I have been putting them off for so long after this news!!


I took my Oyster virginity today, I shucked them and used the shallot recipe and I was not all together disgusted by them, I didn't LOVE them but I did like them....


I am ready for the next Oyster challenge soon also!


On top of this I did the Courgette Salad and the baked onion, both of which worked well, quick lunch and ready for a movie and dinner with Conor, he enjoyed the Onion too, but was too much of a baby for the Oyster!!


I will keep you posted on the website stuff :) 

Day 39

Liz's Graduation weekend

After another long workout and EARLY morning, started in the pool at 5am, then stadiums, then weights only to finish at about 10, I was starving! So a quick fix, comfort grub Jamie Oliver Sausage bap with cheese and brown sauce was perfect.
Liz's family's in town, my 2nd family, and a perfect weekend it is for a BBQ and celebations for my bestest! I am so proud of Liz for graduating and she has been such a rock in my life for the last four years of my life. So this weekend is just for her. Reggae Shack for lunch with them on Sunday and Dragon Fly for Dinner. Love you Liz x