Recipe Post: Roast Winter Veggies

I can't remember the last time I actually cooked something decent.  My life is so hectic at the moment that unfortunately, I'm just stuffing my face with microwaveable meals and just plain old junk.  I know I'm doing a major disservice to my body and my health in general and I do realise that I need to get back on the right track.

Hopefully, yesterday's little cooking indulgence was one small step in the right direction!  I took a couple of much deserved hours off in the afternoon and managed to be home early enough to actually cook.  I stopped at the green grocer next door who had just brought in all the fresh goodies and got myself some of my favourite winter root veggies and made myself a huge dish of roasted veggies - one of my most favourite winter warmer recipes which is just so easy to make!

Here's how it goes:

Pick up some root veggies - I bought butternut squash, parsnips, sweet potatoes and fennel.  I found a lonely carrot lurking in the fridge and added that to the mix, together with the obligatory onion. You could also add a leek or use it instead of the onion.

I just love the smell of freshly chopped fennel

despite the smiley face, this butternut squash was still a b*tch to chop and peel!

Peel and chop all veggies in thick wedges.  If you prefer the fennel or onion to be less chunky, you can cut them in slices just like I do!

Place all veggies in a dish (I like using Pyrex or earthenware ones) and just about cover with water. Drizzle a tablespoon of honey and a tablespoon of BBQ sauce.  You can swap the BBQ sauce for Worcestershire sauce - as long as the sweetness of the honey and some of the vegetables is set off with that moorish, rich flavour of either one of these brown sauces, you're good to go.

Place in a heated oven (regular oven at 250degC) and slow cook for about an hour, folding the vegetables every so often so that they cook evenly.  The cooking length is quite dependent on your oven, really, and how crispy you like your veggies! An hour will give you nice caramelised edges with an al dente consistency.

As I said, the recipe is quite easy, though it does take some time in terms of preparation ... and the butternut squash is a b*tch to chop and peel! So if you can get your green grocer to chop it up at least, it'll help. But on the whole, it's so easy and delish! You can use it as a main vegetarian dish, topped with some goats cheese or as a side to your Sunday roast ... a change from the regular roast potatoes!

Let me know if you give this a try and whether you like it or not! Bon appétit xx

Diet no-brainers

Oscar Wilde infamously said 'I can resist anything but temptation.' I don't know if good old Oscar was on a diet when he said this, because temptation is at its least resistible when one is on a diet.

And when the temperatures are soaring, and the humidity reaching breaking point, it is so easy to fall victim to temptation in the form of an ice-cream or a summery hobża biż-żejt. For us Maltese, this most basic and ubiquitous of bread stuffed with tuna, olives, capers, tomatoes and a whole host of other delicacies, is possibly symbolic of our tuck shop lunches back in our school days. A snack, which like the equally traditional and ever available pastizzi, we keep returning to over and over again. 

But not when we're on a diet. 

Well, not exactly. If you extract the bread factor from the hobża, and limit the lashings of olive oil, you're left with a nice hearty salad which you can have with rice cakes or cracker bread. I know, I know, it's not the same. But it does go some way into satisfying the craving for a 'workmen's bar' bought hobża or ftira with something equally tasty but with half the calorie count. 

As a post gym treat today I did just that: I used half a can of John West chilli and garlic infusions tuna and chopped up 3 cherry tomatoes, a gherkin, a couple of black olives and a handful of green ones (I'm more partial to green olives). 

I also added some capers and tossed all the ingredients in a bowl until they were combined well. Because of the reduced oil in the tuna, I didn't need to add any, even because it would have diluted the spicy flavour, and added unwanted calories. I didn't season either since there was enough saltiness in the capers and pickle and the chilli gave the necessary peppery kick. 

According to myfitnesspal.com, this light dinner totals to just about 240 calories which I think is pretty neat for a diet-friendly twist to a traditional snack. Don't you think? Would you give it a shot? 

I've some other tricks up my sleeve on how to turn traditionally fatty food into light meals. Give me a shout if you want to hear more! 

skinny eats #000001

being on a diet, it is sometimes difficult to come up with filling, delicious recipes which fit into the allocated calorific intake.  this has sort of been my mission for a very long time and seeing as this blog is partly dedicated to food (and my dieting hits and misses), i'm going to start sharing recipes of various meals every now and again.

today i feel like patting myself on my back for this concoction.  it's really simple to put together and perfect for summertime ... and, wait for it ... it's less than 200 calories! how's that for a light, yet filling lunch or dinner? it also follows the food combining rules i mentioned last time and it's suitable for vegetarians.

the ingredients are listed in the image below, together with their indicative respective calorific value. this is a screen shot of my personal myfitnesspal account.

as you can see from the numbers on the top of the screen, i can see how i'm faring against my goals at every moment of the day, including how many calories i've left for snacks and dinner - it's friday so i'll be out and about soon and i made it a point to leave a good share of my calories for dining out.

all i did was grill the aubergines, zucchini and peppers and layered these with chopped cherry tomatoes, creating a sort of vegetarian lasagna tower kind of structure.  i fancied myself a michelin 5* chef today so i glammed up the serving plate with a drizzle of balsamic glaze.  i sprinkled the chopped sun-dried tomatoes randomly across the plate while i placed the cucumber, olives and ricotta in a pretty way to make it more appetising. oh, of course, a sprig of mint just had to be included to finish things off!

so here's what the finished dish looks like ...

will you be giving this a try? do you have any skinny meals you'd like to share? let me know xx

confession #000061

... or, strawberry fields forever

this morning started off in one of the most idyllic ways, at least for the city girl that i am.  freshly faced and clad in my rather bourgeois fred perry stripes, ankle-grazing skinnys and ballerinas, i hopped over to the farmer's market which is actually just round the corner from our apartment in krakow.  the 10 minute trip put me in a good mood and i figure i should adopt this as a bit of a habit ... though getting this done before the 07:30 start of work day schedule may seem a bit gruelling ...

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confession #000038

or, wadowice wedding weekend 

also known as 'the major diet fail weekend'.  but i had very good reasons to fall off the diet wagon.  as the sub-title of this post indicates, this weekend the mr. and i were invited to a wedding in wadowice, which is a couple of hours' train ride from krakow. 

wadowice train station

wadowice's claim to fame is the fact that pope john paul ii was born and bred in this quaint and quite town which nowadays celebrates his origins practically on every corner of every street.  if one is interested in the pope's life and background, the town makes for an enjoyable day's trip while visiting krakow.  trains seem to be rare from krakow to wadowice (we had to do some planning for this in fact) but there seem to be buses which run more frequently as well. 

the river close to our hotel

one of the quaint streets off the town centre

the town is located in between kalwaria zebrzydowska which hosts the famous lady of kalwaria shrine and oświȩcim, the town where the auschwitz-birkenau camps are found.  one could consider hopping from one town to the other while visiting krakow.  

wanting to make the most of this wedding weekend, and seeing another part of the małopolska (little poland) region, we set off somewhat early on saturday morning to be in wadowice in time for the wedding that same afternoon.  in typical maltese fashion, i loaded a 'packed snack' for the train-ride.  little did i realise that once the wedding party kicked off, we were in for a seven-course meal, including free-flowing wine and vodka (obviously), as well as a lot of dancing! i should have kept myself light! oh well ... 

if you've never been to a polish wedding, well, this is quite something.  once the bride and groom entered the reception hall, everyone burst into 'sto lat' which is a song sang on any occasion from weddings to birthdays, meaning '100 years' more of celebration.  well, since there were other maltese people invited, only the polish were singing while the maltese contingent was clapping along and mumbling something as they picked up the easiest words in the song, i.e. 'sto lat'. the guests then queued up to give the newly-weds their best wishes and gifts and then everyone made their way to the respective table.  

the wedding dinner menu ... a true feast!

in between courses, there was a lot of dancing.  and by a lot, i mean A LOT! it appears to be part of the tradition to get up and dance to digest the food (and vodka) and prepare your system to the next round of abundance.  i don't quite like communal dancing like 'congas' and 'trains' but i did shake my boot-ey once or twice during the night (probably once the vodka started truly kicking in ...) i loved the little differences in tradition between maltese and polish weddings:  at the start of the reception, after the 'sto lat' dies out and everyone swigs the first celebratory drink, the newly weds throw their glasses behind them - if the glasses break, it means all's fine and they'll have good luck.  at another point during the reception, the bride and groom gave presents to the parents.  little things that have such a profound meaning.  

dancing like there's no tomorrow

the bride and groom feeding wedding cake to each other

myself and natalia, the bride and my former polish language teacher

like most of the maltese contingent (who had to return to the rock the following day), we bowed out before the big festivities were over - at least two main courses were still left to be served! we are not used to such abundance! 

the next day, we decided to stroll around the town centre until it was time to head back to krakow.  in all fairness, we were not planning on going on a papal tour, and in fact did not, but savoured the tranquility of the town over some pierogi, kremówka papieska and a whole lot of sun (despite the rather nippy temperature - i certainly wasn't dressed enough for that!)

plac jana pawła ii ... john paul ii square

tiles showing all the places the pope visited ... including malta!

'i was there' kind of photo ...

the glorious kremówka papieska

heading back to krakow was for us as though we were heading back to malta from gozo.  the contrast in these two places which are so close in vicinity, yet so different in lifestyle is positively impressive.  i think i've found the place where you can really get 'away from it all' ... 

homeward bound...

the beauty of nature (through the train window ...)

confession #000031

... or, this is no april's fool

i've been saying that i want to go back down to my (uk) size 6 for a very long time now. i've even started this blog specifically to keep myself accountable to myself and those who choose to follow, on my progress - or lack of - in this endeavour. 

my deadline starts ticking today.  and no, this is no april's fool. i am seriously going to stick to two very arduous promises challenges i'm making to myself: 

1: stick to the diet 

2: no shopping till london

as of today i have exactly 53 days to achieve this.  this is going to be my sort of 'post-lent' sacrifice.  i must confess that i haven't really made any sacrifices this past lent.  

on palm sunday, only a budvar original would do for the lone ranger

the 40 days and 40 nights included a trip to malta where i over-indulged in junk food and a trip to berlin where a macaron day (or two or three) was being celebrated at galeries lafayette.  tell me, how could i resist? i've also done a substantial bit of shopping over the past weeks, stocking up on spring clothes, only to leave them with their tags on in the wardrobe as the sub-zero temperatures don't seem to want to lift in krakow.  

snow on good friday ... now tell me if you wouldn't comfort-eat as well?!

and since i have 53 days left to go for my mini-break in the great capital of unbridled shopping, i found it to be a most alluring incentive. 

the realisation came to me yesterday, somewhere in between buying the gorilla twins vest top from the kooples, realising that westfield shopping centre is a mere 15 minute walk from my hotel in london and scoffing a family-size box of maltesers which had been jealously saved for a 'special occasion'.  easter seemed to have fit that brief, especially given the fact that we're missing figolli here.  anyway, i digress. 

with easter being a time of renewal and all that, i found that it was high time to renew myself and renew my challenges and promises, with these two being the ones which i most desperately need to keep.  i can't let myself - or you, my dear followers - down again.  not this time.  and this, is not an april's fool. 

confession #000026

... or, breakfast like a queen

oh god, i've done it.  i've done that which i was so hoping to avoid doing.  i pigged out in that most typical 'maltese family at an 'eat as much as you like' buffet'.  and i'm feeling the worse for it. 

i've just got back from the breakfast at the maritim proarte berlin hotel where i'm staying for these couple of nights.  in all truth and fairness, the abundance and variety at this breakfast somewhat triggers you into indulgence.  whether you're a carnivore, herbivore, health freak or sweeth-toothed individual, you're sure to find something to tickle your taste buds. 

as a lactose intolerant vegetarian, i could have opted for soy yoghurt and soy milk.  instead, i decided to have one of my lactase pills which help me digest milk products and had my way with the 'real' dairies on display.  well, i did opt for the bio / organic yoghurt, goat cheese and brie versions ... but still.  tomorrow morning, i promise, i will opt for the soy versions - and other healthy stuff, i.e. less or no bread, more fruit, no fried mushrooms or baked beans ... and no pancake with nutella to end on a sweet note.  promise.  

as some of you know, at the moment i'm conducting a little find-out on where i should take this blog.   if you haven't yet answered my little questionnaire, i would greatly appreciate if you do so here.  from the feedback received so far, more outfit and travel posts are being requested ... so i'm going to be pro-active about it and let you in on a few travel points about this trip, as well as some outfit shots.  hope you enjoy them!

basically, this is the second time i'm visiting berlin and i'm lucky enough to be here for a practical seminar on social media which i need for my full time work, and which honestly speaking, interests me very much from a personal perspective as well.  i'm staying at the maritim proarte which is on friedrichstrasse - the main shopping street in berlin.  i couldn't have asked for a better location! the hotel is just a 5 - 10 minute walk from galerie lafayette and 3 h&m stores so i'm pretty much in heaven! 

having just a few hours to spare during this stay, i don't have much time to visit the sites.  i had done that about a year ago when i first came to berlin, though i must admit that in such a historic and culturally diverse city, i'm sure i haven't managed to cover them all.  i'll write an entire post on the 'must-go' sites in berlin another day as i soon have to go to register and start my first day of the seminar.  some little points about the hotel and its location though before i go ... the hotel itself is pretty fantastic:  the room i'm in has just about everything you can ask for (though i did request an additional, firmer pillow!) and the front desk staff are very kind and friendly.  i think the only thing i'm not keen on in this hotel is the over-abundance of art pieces which welcome you in the lobby and as you walk along the floors to the rooms.  i mean, i love art, especially modern and contemporary, but the sheer abundance of pieces, battling for attention, render it more of a cluttered art shop than a contemporary art space.  i'm not really sure which look the hotel designer was going for, but i suppose s/he wanted to live up to the 'proarte' tag in the hotel's name.  

as i said earlier, i'm here on work-related training, so while the atmosphere at these events tends to be a little more relaxed, an element of professionalism still needs to be retained.  that is why i chose to wear dark skinny jeans and a boxy tuxedo blazer for the first day.  i find the blazer-jeans combo to be such a 'safe' combination that you just can't go wrong with it.  i teamed these with my burberry brit vest - since i'm in the so called 'upper east side berlin' - and leopard print flats.  being (very) short, i could have done with some heels but lately i'm opting more for flats and saving heels for occasions which really call for them.  i decided to pull my hair in a low ponytail, to retain a little air of professionalism about the look (and not give much prominence to my more hipster dip-dye!).  also, i find that blazers tend to look better with hair pulled back or in a top knot, thereby emphasizing structured shoulders and making the look an altogether cleaner one. 

blazer: miss selfridge; vest: burberry brit; jeggings: suite blanco; leopard print pumps: h&m (i'm not proud of the black stockings peeping out but a girl needs to keep warm somehow!); leopard print earrings: h&m; ring: independent store

ok, it's actually time for me to start heading off to the welcome coffee but i promise to write more about this trip later today or tomorrow. have a good day my lovelies xx

confession #000025

... or, the sleep deception

i have a feeling that overtiredness and insomnia have joined forces last night.  despite having an early start to catch a flight back to krakow - make that two actually, with all the hassles of baggage pick-up, second baggage drop-off, second security control, and the occasional air pocket - i could not manage to fall soundly asleep, despite the obvious fatigue. the result is my being online since 04:30 this morning, sporting a pair of luggage sized bags under my eyes. 

in all fairness (and to my defence, in a way), i haven't been just aimlessly browsing.  the quiet morning hours can still be somewhat productive.  even though i have barely unpacked from yesterday's travel, i am already planning my packing for the next trip this wednesday.  i'm off to some work-related training which i'm very much looking forward to, both out of work and personal interest. another plus is the fact that it's in berlin - a city which i've already been to and quite like actually.  alright, alright, it's not up there with my personal top three: krakow (duh!), prague and ljubliana, but it's somewhere on the lines of london and brussels where, if you manage to avoid the tourist traps or the hustle and bustle of daily cosmopolitan life, you're in for a few quirky and interesting surprises.  

the weather for next week seems to promise some more inclement days, but (un)luckily, i'll be spending most of my days away inside.  ever since i discovered polyvore, i tend to start my travel planning there. i usually look up the one item which i'd be dead set on packing for the trip, and work the rest of the outfits around it.  i always try to find the exact items i own or, the closest to.  for instance, the black boxy blazer featured in the set below is river island, whereas the one i own is exactly the same but miss selfridge.  likewise with the jeans - mine are stradivarius, while these are mango, but they're essentially the same.  planning online first, allows me to make the actual packing procedure much quicker since i'd already know what to fish out of the wardrobe.  also, since it's still the early hours of the day, and the mister is still fast asleep (bless him!) i don't want to be rummaging around and wake him up. 

check out the individual items here

as you darling followers know, initially this blog was meant to document my umpteenth attempt at weight loss.  this journey is somewhat proving to be a tad more difficult that i hoped for it to be.  firstly, the regular travelling between poland and malta means that every time i go back to the motherland, i go back to lovely home-cooked traditional meals which are not necessarily diet-friendly.  mind you, i'm not complaining and if mum is reading this: please do not stop pampering me with your lovely meals! there is also the fact that certain things are just not found here in poland.  there's no pastizzi, qassatat, pizza tac-champs, mqaret, figolli, kwarezimal ... all things that i would usually not give much thought to, but when their availability is somewhat scarce if non-existent, become objects of unbridled craving.  after two weeks of indulgence, i find myself ridden with guilt at having sabotaged myself, yet again!

and this week won't be any easier.  airport / airline food, hotel breakfasts, buffet lunches and coffee breaks ... where can i find some discipline to stick to just the healthier, low-fat, low calorie options? can i buy discipline online? does it do next day - nay, immediate - shipping? whenever i'm having a hotel breakfast i catch myself sneering at the other guests around me eating yoghurt and fruit while i'm scoffing a buttery croissant after having already eaten a toast or some cereal.  where do they get that stamina to say no to trying just about everything on display? if anyone knows the answer, please do let me know ... 

confession #000023

... or, the motherland temptation

as those of you who follow my Facebook page know, I'm back to the motherland - Malta - for a couple of weeks. I suppose, amid the puerile arguments leading up to the general elections, the fact that I get to spend a little extra time with family, friends and colleagues is a redeeming factor.

Heading back to my Mediterranean roots, I couldn't but build up an appetite for all things which remind me of home. The funny thing is that for some odd reason, my main craving was for a champs / sphinx / maxims pizza. Any fellow malteser out there will immediately know what I'm talking about. The champs / sphinx / maxims pizza is a square of dough which doubles up as a sponge, absorbing all the oil from the tonne of shredded cheese that generally blankets the other toppings. Having had my champs / sphinx / maxims pizza fix I made a unanimous decision to opt for the healthier of local fare ...

So tonight I cooked some aljotta, or fish soup. Usually this would be made with chunks of fish - even heads and tails, as apparently these are most flavoursome - but my version is made with seafood.

It is really quite quick and simple and I believe the calorific intake does not exceed 300kcal per portion ... but I need to check and get back to you on that. anyway, for those of you who are tempted, here's the recipe which yields around 3 portions.

ingredients:

250 gr mixed seafood
50 gr long grain rice
1 medium onion (preferably of the white variety as it's more delicate), chopped
1 medium potato, diced
50 gr peas
1 glass of white wine or a couple of shots vodka
1 tbsp tomato paste (kunserva, to us locals)
seasoning: 1 fish cube; salt, pepper, chilli flakes, oregano and/or mint, to taste

method:
Dry fry the onion until it starts colouring
Add wine / vodka and sautée
Add the potato and peas and stir
Season with selected herbs and spices
Dissolve fish cube in 1 lt water and pour over vegetables
Add tomato paste
Add seafood and rice and simmer for 15 minutes

and there you have it ... a simple, healthy fish soup which takes about 30 minutes maximum to put together (unless, that is, you stop every now and again to instagram the process ...)

Let me know if you give this soup a try! oh, and if you want me to share any other recipes, please leave a message in the comments section below.