Spinach pancakes

I am presenting another idea of using spinach for those who are not actually a spinach fan (for example me;)).

spinach fluffy pancakes

I always try to use spinach as a ingredient, it brings me some volume and vitamins til dishes, but you don't exactly fell it - and that is all the secret! ;) 
Today I am presenting spinach pancakes, previous recipes was about spinach meatballs and tarta

For 10 small pancakes you will need:

I am using whole grain flour, you can replace it with rice/soya/almond flour

* 5 tablespoons of whole grain flour

This chopped frozen spinach is very easy to use - only thing you have to do is to defrost it

* a bowl of defrosted spinach 
* 1 egg
* pinch of salt
* 1 teaspoon of baking powder

* half a cup of water

It might not look tasty, but in the en it will be ;)

Mix ingredients all together and heat the pan with some frying oil on it.

You can form normal sized pancakes, but then it is better to omit using baking powder (it makes dough more fluffy)

Form small pancakes in the pan and fry them about 2-3 minutes on each side.

And that is it! Wonderwing how to serve this kind of pancakes? I put a filet chicken breast on it and covered it with other pancakes that in result I had a pancake-sandwich :)

Stay focus and train - circuit 2

stay focus and TRAIN!

Today was the day of my second round of circuit. I did first circuit on Wednesday, took a day off after that and today - with energy recharged, I did another whole body workout.

My today's routine:

* legs lunges with barbell 10x17kg each leg, 10x17kg, 10x17kg

Dumbbel swing exercise

* legs, butt, chest, shoulders dumbbell swing 10x10kg, 10x10kg, 10x10kg
* glutes leg cul on machine 12x15kg, 12x15kg, 12x15,kg
* back, biceps pull up (on easy power station) 12x30kg, 12x30kg, 12x30kg
* back, chest, triceps chin up (on easy power statnion) 12x30kg, 12x30kg, 12x30kg
* shoulders upright barbell row 12x14,5kg, 12x9,5kg, 12x9,5kg
* obliques russian twist 12x6kg, 12x6kg, 12x6kg
* lower back hyperextensions 12x5kg, 12x5kg, 12x5kg

and I am.. done! :)

I really enjoy this type of training when I used all body muscles! :) Can't wait circuit 3!

Winter desserts - homemade marzipan

Homemade marzipan - all natural and with no sugar :)

 Winter is already in Oslo! December is closer and closer, so it is about time to celebrate the new season with some home made desserts.

Marzipan - the healthiest treat? Yeah, it might be. Especially when you will prepare it yourself. It is very easy actually!

almond flour and grounded almonds - the main ingredients, I bought mine here

You will need:
* ground almonds (0,5 cup)
* almond flour (this are basically de-fatted ground almonds)

Sukrin and Stevia are natural sweeteners

* sweetener, I used Sukrin and Setvia english toffee drops
* almond essence
* cocoa (I used unsweetened one which was a little bitter, you can use normal one)
* 1 white egg

Mix first dry ingredients, then add Stevia drops and white egg

Mix dry ingredients first. I used ground almonds and flour in proportion 1:2 (1/4 cup of ground almonds and 1/2 cup of almond flour). Add Sukrin (it is the matter of taste how sweet you like). The add few stevia drops and egg white. Mix it all together.

Form balls from dough and put them into fridge/freezer

Form balls in your hands and put them into pan. 
Put a pan to a freezer for 15-20 minutes or to fridge for 60 minutes. 

Roll balls in coca/cocoa with sukrin melis/dissolved chocolate or powdered sugar

After that time roll marzipan balls in cacoa. Instead cacoa you can use dissolved chocolate :)

This dessert is low in carbohydrates (unless you use cocoa, not chocolate), rich in good fats and proteins. But be careful with portions - grounded almonds are still almonds, but in a different form, they still have their calories ;)

New training routine!

squat! :)

Today I started my new training routine. From now on I will do 3 circuit trainings and 1 interval training in a week. 

I changed previous split workout to circuit training because:
* my goal is to burn fat and toned muscles
* I don't want to build more muscles, I am satisfied with the one I already have
* I like to challenge my body
* due to mu instructor work I do not always have a day for my own training and I ended with doing only legs and back in the week - now, with the same amount of time I will train all body at the same workout
* I got some great workout buddy who is doing quite the same routine and we will motivate each other (cheers Ania! :) )

an example of circuit training

Circuit training is the one you engage all your main body muscles. You do each exercise for one muscle group, go to another exercise, train other muscle, then train another and ho back to the first exercise. You are doing stations, changing exercises quickly, doing plenty of repetitions (from 10 to 20). Everything in a high tempo to sweat and burn more calories. 

My today's training, circuit 1:

warm up (5 min.): 2 minutes on cross trainer, minutes of running in place, 20 jumping jacks, 10 burpees, 20 low squats

1) legs/butt squat with barbell 12x17kg 12x17kg 12x17kg

hip trust exercise with barbell

2) glutes/butt hip trust with barbell 12x17kg 12x17kg 12x17kg
3) chest push ups (classic) 1x20 1x20 1x20
4) triceps dips 1x12 1x12 1x12
5) shoulders shoulder press with barbell (smith machine) 5x12kg 10x7kg 12x7kg
6) back seated row machine for upper back 12x10kg 12x10kg 12x10kg

crunch up exercise - both blades and hip goes up

7) abs crunch up 1x20kg 1x20kg 1x20kg
8) core/abs plank 1x60s 1x60s 1x60s

All training took me 45 minutes, together with stretch session in the end :)

So easy! Vegetables baked in eggs

Perfect dinner and post workout meal: it contains lots of veggies, proteins (from egg whites), good fats (egg yolk) and complex carbs (sweet potatoes)

So easy, healthy and simple post-workout meal I have done today! Broccoli&red paprika baked in eggs, served with roast sweet potato.

How to do this?

I spiced sweet potato with salt, pepper, chilli, paprika and japaleo

1. Chop sweet potato

I used vegetables which I actually had at home, any other will fits here too

2. Chop vegetables and put them in a roasting pan (together with drop of oil)

I used 2 whole eggs and 2 whites

3. Take 2 eggs and 2 egg whites, mix them and add to vegetables, on the top put some parma ham

4. Put both sweet potatoes and vegetables and eggs to the oven for 250 degrees and 20 minutes

5. Check eggs after 10-15 minutes and stir them, if necessary

balanced meal ready in 20 minutes :)

6. Add parmesan cheese on top of vegetables and eggs (did I mentioned that I looove parmesan? yesterday? well, nothijng change from that time ;)

Training for today - indoor cycling

It has been a working weekend for me. Both in the studio and as an instructor.

much much better training than yesterday! :)

It wasn't easy to get up at 7 both on Saturday and Sunday.. but, from time to time it is good to work on weekend and earn extra ;) 

 After my morning work I had a spinn class. Great 60 minutes of cycling with dedicated ladies who came to the class :) High energy and 550 kcal burned! But.. what is spinn exactly?

spinning room at my work place - Sport og Mosjon

Spinning is simple an indoor cycling. It is a form of group training where group is cycling to the music's tempo. It is definitely and cardiovascular training, where you mostly train on your endurance. It depends on type of class and instructor if it is interval training or more steady tempo cycling. 

You can adjust intensity by: 
*standing up on your pedals (standing climb), 
*doing
 short and intensive sessions of standing and seating (jumps), cycling with serious resistance (climbing),
*cycling with high tempo (sprints)

equipment: for amateur cycling training shoes and shorts will be enough, no need to buy fancy stuff if you are not spinning professionally/very often

Unquestionable benefits of indoor cycling is that you are burning many calories, strengthening your hearth and lunges as well as harmstrings, glutes and quadriceps. What is more, spinning is less harmful for joints as any other kind of aerobic activity and.. it's easy! You don't have to remembering choreography and any steps, just look what instructor is doing and copy it!

another benefit of indoor cycling is the fact that trainings are normally taken in a dark room with loud music - nobody will watch you while you are sweating and you can totally concentrate on your moves and music

Spinning is the great way of doing interval training (best cardio training for fat burning). By standing on pedals and cycling in high tempo you are doing high intervals and by doing cycling in normal tempo you are doing low intervals :)

Is it suitable for you? You will never now, until you check :) I recommend taking part in a class, even if you are not a cycling fan - try, maybe the atmosphere, music and passion will encourage you? :)

Tenderloin for dinner

Tenderloin in garlic and herbs with rice and broccoli

Tenderloin is probably my favourite part of (pork) meat. Nothing can beat veal tenderloin, but pork is also good - and more affordable! ;)

Seasoning and putting meat to fridge will give it perfect aroma and juicy

To have a juicy and aromatic meat it is good to seasoned it (lot's of fresh garlic recommended!) before, add a drop of oil and put it to the fridge. The longer time meat will spend in fridge, the better (you can leave it even for all night).

Meat won't need any additional oil once you used few drops while seasoning

When rice and vegetables were almost ready, I putted chopped tenderloin on a frying pan and fry for about 10 minutes (5 minutes on each side).

I added chopped red paprika to rice as well as some spinach and ruccola leaves - there is never to much veggies and greens ;)

I served tenderloin on spinach and ruccola leafs with rice (with paprika) and blanched broccoli.

I am big parmesan fan :)

Before serving I also use some parmesan cheese for decoration.

Struggling

smile came only after I was done ;)

Today is about struggling. Struggling with waking up, go to work and do a training after work. I was tired, sleepy and my muscles were sore. But... I did it! 

35 minutes sessions of intervals on treadmill. 8 intervals (1 minute high, 1 minute low) with 10 minutes warm up and 10 minutes cool down&stretch. There same as this one.

There are days where motivation is low and the best solution would be to go back home, lay in bed under the blanket and eat a box of ice creams. And these days seems to be the best challenging for our strong will and determination. It is all about dedication. One day out of training won't change the world, but in the same logic - one day of training neither. Be persistent and always looking forward with a longer perspective.

Back&chest

Today I did some back&chest routine. It will be probably the last split program this week, because soon I starting out new circuit routine! Can't wait!

But, until this some, I made my best today with some serious back work:

Warm up:

4 minutes power walk on treadmill 6,0 km/h
2 minutes light jog on treadmill 7,0km/h
3 minutes jog on treadmill 8,0km/h

Back:

* pull ups
* dips

bend over row exercise with barbell

* bend over row
* seated row
* hyperextensions
* side hyperextensions

Chest:

* chin ups
* bench press

pullover exercise and muscles engaged

* pullover with dumbbell
* flies

Stretch: 

For all pasta lovers!

Yesterday I've got two new arrivals and I thought it may interest all pasta lovers :)

In online shop Grymgrossiten (it's Swedish, but has their business also in Norway) I bought two types of pasta - low carb and no calories pasta (or miracle pasta).

I bought that low carb pasta in two forms - penne and fussili

First one, low carb pasta is a variation of a normal pasta, based not on a typical flour but on proteins from soya, pea and wheat. By this it is very rich in protein (62 g in 100g of product) and low in carbs (13g in 100 grams of product). It has similar calories value as a normal pasta (323 kcal in 100g).

who doesn't like a bowl of pasta with aromatic tomato souse? :)

It is a great idea to mix half a cup of low carb pasta with half a cup of whole grain pasta. By this we will get healthier alternative to simple pasta dish, much more rich in protein but at the same time we will provide our body carbohydrates (which are also very important). Just add a home-made tomato souse (chopped tomatoes, fresh garlic, basilica&oregano)  and you have a great dish to serve :)

shirataki is sold in different packages but basically all contains the same product with the same nutrition value

Second product is just even more interesting! A pasta with almost no calories in it! Shirataki has only 5 kcal in 100 grams of product which is most the calories from fiber (0g of carbs, 0g of protein, 0g of fat).

no calories pasta out from pack :)

How is it even possible? These kind of asian noodles is made from plant konjac (so, surprisingly it is a natural product!) and it contains most of water and fibre.

shirataki noodles with chicken and vegetables

Shirataki is translucent and gelatinous. It can be used as a ingredient of low in calories dishes, but because it has no taste itself it takes the taste of other ingredients with which you are preparing it (for example a taste of a soup). You can served it with chicken and vegetables and spiced it with soya souse.


And what if you can't or don't want to buy some fancy pastas? Simple, try at least to use a whole grain one and cut a little your portion :)

Bon appetit!