VANILLA FROSTING

April is a busy cake baking month for me with Arabellas birthday and party and Pascals birthday. I am a big Betty Crocker fan and last year made Arabella this super easy cake. This year I used the vanilla cake mix but then made my own frosting from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook which Arabella had bought me for Christmas - she knows the way to my heart! I LOVE frosting and so made a good amount for a 9" cake to ice the middle, top and sides. I also decorated the cake with white chocolate fingers and haribo - you can never have enough sugar right?!

Ingredients for a 9" cake (or 36 cupcakes):

750g icing sugar, sifted
240g unsalted butter, at room temperature
75ml whole milk
6 drops of vanilla extract
A ribbon (optional)
3 packs of white chocolate fingers (optional)
2 big bags of haribo (optional)
A sponge cake (you can follow this cake recipe if you like or this one below)

Bake your cake and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Sift the icing sugar through a sieve into a bowl and add the butter.

Beat together with either a handheld electric whisk (which I used), or in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment, on a medium -slow speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed. I put my apron on for this part as it can be pretty messy!!

Combine the milk and vanilla extract in a separate bowl and then add 2 tablespoons at a time to the butter and sugar, with the mixer on at a slow speed.

Once all the milk has been added, turn the mixture up to a high speed and beat continually for at least 5 minutes until the frosting is light and fluffy. You really need to put the effort in and "believe" - it suddenly does come together and the longer the frosting is beaten, the fluffier and lighter it becomes. Remember no pain no gain!

Spread on to the cake with a wide knife / spatula. The beauty of covering the cake with sweets and biscuits is that you dont need to be neat about it!

Dont forget to lick the bowl!

As soon as the icing is on the cake, stick on the chocolate fingers (you could use kit kats or anything similar). Dont wait around as they become difficult to stick - I had to go to 4 supermarkets halfway through as I ran out of fingers and white chocolate ones arent that easy to buy - I ended up having to make the icing a little damp to prevent the fingers falling off!

Then top with as many sweets as possible!

And tie with a ribbon!

Voila!! I have to say I was very very proud of this cake - it not only looked fab but it tasted amazing too. This frosting is out of this world….unfortunately this cake is also a bit like pringles, once you start, you cant stop. This one is already nearly eaten after just 2 days and I am making another one for Friday. Pascal doesnt like sweets so his one will be covered in chocolates like munchies, maltesers and minstrels, reeses peanut butter cups, m&ms….my mouth is already watering at the thought!!

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Pinterest September Favorites

I cant believe the weekend went by so quickly!  I started a post about Pinterest on Friday, and was so busy going to community events for my husbands work, going to Seattle for the Mariners second to last game of the year, and watching football and prepping my food for the week on Sunday, that I never ended up posting it.

I thought instead, I would do a wrap up of my favorite Pins this last month.  If you would like to follow me on Pinterest, find me here.

Check out this delicious summer vegetable harvest soup from my sister-in-laws blog, Rouge Rustique.  This recipe can be converted to Nutritiarian-friendly by water sauteing instead of using oil, and adding whole wheat pasta or beans instead of regular pasta.  I love that her recipe uses green beans.  I have been on a green bean kick lately, since I have been finding green beans for $1.50 per pound at the farmers market. (source)

I love this color of nail polish.  It is just perfect for fall.  I can picture wearing this while prepping a delicious Nutritarian Thanksgiving dinner at my parents house this year.  I cant wait for some home cooking! (source unknown)

Speaking of Thanksgiving... dont these wild rice stuffed acorn squashes look divine!?  Maybe I can talk my mom into making a few of these for dinner this year. (source)

I love this fall saying.  Too bad Im not a fan of needlepoint. (source unknown)

I love this drawer organizing hack from I Heart Organizing. (source)

I love this repurposing of glass candle jars.  I have kept one so far and have been using it for the cotton rounds I use to put my eye makeup remover.  (source)

 Have a great rest of your Monday!





Health and Happiness,

Amy

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The 3 Week Diet Review Try Brian Flatts 3 Week Diet Plan FREE Three Week Diet Reviews

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Metamorphosis the BIG summary

Meta is over. I say it with a thrill, but at the same time with a sad smile touching my lips. I am so grateful to it, and all the same so sad it is over. I am not saying bye to you, my readers, as my journey indeed continues. Literally: Continuity is there for me. There will be more yummy foods, more reports… There still will be progressing from one level to another…

But it is sad to say bye to something that changed your life so much. Transformed me and the way I think, the way I do things, the way I think about myrself, about exercise, about healthy lifestyle… For me this was not simply the way towards a small waist – alas, you are witnesses, I never wanted (or needed either) to lose more than 7-10 cm in my waist. It was also not the way towards healthy weight – I was in the range of what is considered healthy for my age and height when I started (well at the edge of it). So, I am fully aware, you might think it all has been easier for me than for many of the older and bigger girls out there. But here comes the truth: it is hard for every single one of us, equally. Because we are not just fighting our weight, getting better looks, we are fighting the lazy and the giving-up side of ourselves – please forgive my rough language – but the looser side of us. Because losing comes from giving up. Losing comes from not bringing something to the end. From not finishing what you start. From cheating – not someone else – but yourself. The hardest job for any of us who are embarking onto this journey for self-improvement – regardless of what method you use and how you exercise – is to say a big fat “NO” to our laziness, set a goal and fight every single day.

Meta didn’t just give me the lean body I love (I have a ‘boy-ish’ complexion, so to be honest, Meta was great for me). Meta didn’t just help me lose the weight I gained leading a sedentary life and overeating… It gave me a habit of working out, of enjoying it, of knowing you are doing it for yourself. It gave me the chance to feel good – physically and psychologically. But still – the most important – it gave me strength. I know – NOW I know! – I do have the backbone. When I do set my mind onto something – I WILL do it. Now I know it.

Even though I had much less inches and weight to lose, don’t underestimate the effort it took and still takes me to exercise!!! Even though I never was overweight, I was not healthy and I am essentially a very lazy person. I had to fight my laziness every day. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. And laziness is a funny thing: it finds “reasonable” arguments for you NOT to go on. Like “I don’t have time” or “I am not feeling well” (when you only started feeling unwell when you thought so) or “Nothing would happen if I don’t work out in the morning” (and you end up never finding time to work out later in the day) or “It is a whole hour! I can’t spare so much time!” – whereas the correct thinking would be “This is only half an hour and another half an hour – so little!”

I had a tough time learning how to trick the lazy side of me – or make a deal with it. I would give myself little gifts: a little chocolate, or a new nail polish, or little earrings if I had a good workout. I learnt how to count reps to trick myself – instead of counting from 1 to 40, I would count from 1 to 10 four times, or even better – I would count “1-1-1-1, 2-2-2-2 … 10-10-10-10” (something my best friend taught me) – so in the end it is almost like doing only 10 reps… well 10 reps 4 times each :))))) I argued with myself so many times during DC: my laziness would say “You don’t have time, you have a lot to do”, and my rational and critical self would reply “Ha-ha, right! You will procrastinate anyways for an hour, you might as well work out – it is at least useful!” Oh, so many-many countless days during DC the lazy-me would think

– OK, only 15 minutes, I am not feeling that well.

But with time the backbone-me learnt to counter this thinking when it is 15 minutes into DC.

– C’mon, if you did 15 minutes, you might as well do 20.

– OK, - the laziness would say. – 20 minutes it is.

And after some time:

– Hey, we did 20 minutes!

But the backbone-me would go:

–What is 20 minutes?! You did SO much already, you might as well do 5 more minutes – it’s nothing compared to 20!!!

Around the time the “homestretch” (around minute 24) of DC backbone makes the final strike:

–C’mon! You reached the homestretch, as Tracy calls it. You can’t give up NOW!!!!

At the end – when Tracy says “You made it to the end, I am so proud of you!”, my little lazy ass starts crying like a little girl saying “I was so so so wrong! Of course we could do it!” And the backbone just taps the little lazy girl on her shoulder and says “There, there!” :)

This kind of drama went on in my head almost every other day. Honestly. And if you think it is easy, you are wrong.

So, all in all, it has been a difficult journey. And it still continues. I hope you all will find strength to start a journey for self improvement! And it doesn’t have to be TAM :) This is not what I mean. Find something you always wanted to do, but had problems doing. And DO it. :) Get the strength for it, succeed in it! Overcoming your own weaknesses and imperfections – this is what makes one strong.

I CAN do it! Any bets? :)

Believe in yourself, people, challenge yourself and just go for it! Let yourself be proud of what you accomplish!

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OVEN BAKED RISOTTO WITH PESTO GOATS CHEESE

Pascal has gone back to France and left me with an abundance of cheese and rather randomly a lot of basil so I searched though my recipe folder to see what I could cook. I found this recipe which I cut out of a magazine in April 2008 - it was definitely time to give it a go!!

Ingredients for 4 people:

Risotto

1.2 litres of chicken or vegetable stock

25g butter

1 onion, peeled and chopped

300g risotto rice

150ml white wine (I didnt have any wine so just used a little extra stock)

Salt and pepper

Pesto

1 shallot, peeled and chopped (I forgot to buy this so used a garlic clove instead)

30g pine nuts

80ml olive oil

70g basil leaves

A squeeze of lemon

To finish:

A knob of butter

200g freshly grated Parmesan

150g goats cheese

Preheat the oven to 190 C / 170 C fan / gas mark 5.

Bring the stock to the boil in a small saucepan.

Melt the butter in a large casserole dish / saucepan over a medium heat and add the onion. Cook gently for several minutes until softened, without colouring.

Add the rice and stir for about a minute.

Then add the wine (or in my case some of the stock) and simmer until almost absorbed.

Pour in the boiling stock and season. Next cover and cook in the oven for 25 minutes.

While this is cooking you can prepare the pesto. As I mentioned I forgot to buy a shallot so just used a garlic clove instead - I dont think it made too much difference.

In a food processor, place the shallot, pine nuts, olive oil, half the basil and some salt and pepper and whizz to a puree.

Then add the remaining basil and a squeeze of lemon and whizz again.

When the risotto is ready, take it out the oven and give it a stir.

Mine hadnt absorbed all the stock - I dont know why - I ended up putting it on the hob for a few minutes.

Then add a knob of butter and the Parmesan to the risotto and stir.

Spoon in pesto and stir.

Finally stir in half the goats cheese and then serve with the remaining goats cheese on top.

This was fabulous, great flavours - Arabella literally inhaled her bowl and announced it her new favourite. I think when I cook it again I will cook the risotto the traditional boring way of slowly spooning in the stock and stirring continuously rather than putting it in the oven as my rice was a little soft….I like it to have a bite to it. However I loved the combination of the goats cheese and pesto and was very pleased with the dish. It was easy to make and tasted great. I cant believe I waited 7 years to cook it….the recipe is the same age as Arabella!!

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Confessions Before Continuing

Hello to all of my readers!  Are any of you still there?  I realize it has been a long time since my last post (over a month), but a lot of changes have been happening in my life.  Over the last month I have been working through where I want this blog to go and if I even want to continue it.  I realized that what has been keeping me away, besides the hectic-ness of a move across state (more about that in another post), was guilt.

While I love creating recipes and sharing them with you, I feel that I have strayed from the true name of my blog: "Amys NUTRITARIAN Kitchen".  Some of the recipes I have provided over the last few months or so are indeed vegan and even whole food based, but they miss the mark when it comes to eating for nutrient-density, a.k.a. a Nutritarian lifestyle.  Recipes like this one... and this one...  Not to say they arent delicious and can be utilized for special occasions when you have reached your optimum weight, but they dont belong on a blog that is centered to help others (and me) focus on increasing their intake of fruits, vegetables, beans, etc.

Not only have the recipes Ive been making for the blog not Nutritarian-perfect, my day-to-day eating and lifestyle was beginning to look more like the SAD (Standard American Diet) than a diet consisting of healthful, healing plant foods.  Here are my confessions I wanted to get out in the open so I/we can move past them.  Over the last few months....

• I went days, weeks even,without having a big salad.
• I allowed white flour and breads back into my diet.
• I went for fried foods and oily/fatty dips when eating out at restaurants.
• I had meat more than occasionally, and some of the worse kinds (deli meats, BBQd meats, sausages, fried chicken wings).
• I indulged on sweets too often, usually eating too much, being unable to stop myself.
• I spent too many nights on the couch, finding every excuse in the book not to exercise.
• I allowed myself to have a social routine that involved drinking beer most nights of the week.
• Too often, I opted to get some vegetarian unhealthy fast foods, rather than making healthy meals at home.

Now that I have all of my confessions out in the open, here is where the blog is headed...

I have spent hours and HOURS over the last 3-4 years researching nutrition and plant-based diets.  I have spent EVEN MORE HOURS in the kitchen making foods to fit what I have learned and what I want for my health.  While I am by no means and expert, I know my way around a Nutritarian diet. 

That being said and going along with my confessions above, I am not a "perfect bill of health".  I have have weight, self-esteem, anxiety, acne, and other minor health problems just like many of you do.  But I believe the important step I am taking now is that I truly want to fix what I can of those things.  

When I first found ETL in January 2011 and followed it to an absolute tee; I had goals to lose weight and nothing else.  What I found happened along with losing weight was a boost in self confidence, a calming of my stress and nerves, an improvement in my athleticism, and a reduction in my acne, among other things.  

Now that I have strayed from ETL over the years, I have found myself falling into un-wellness.  I have gained weight above when I first started ETL, and many of my negative health symptoms have come back.  This time around, losing weight is not my main goal.  My main goal is to gain control over my health for life.

As always, I am delighted to hear from my readers, and if you ever write with questions, I will be happy to give you advice or point you in the right direction of an answer you are looking for.  That being said, I am going to blog honestly about my experiences and successes and missteps.  I am going to share with you my progress as well as inspiration and recipes I find along the way.  I am not and will never be perfect, but I hope you continue to join me on this journey.

Health and Happiness,

-Amy

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HIGH ROAD BRASSERIE CHISWICK

Its been a while since I have had a good burger and so I made that my mission for this weekend - its good to have ambition right?! I wanted to try somewhere new but neither my daughter Arabella nor my husband Pascal wanted to venture too far - lazy bones! In the end we agreed on High Road Brasserie - an all day restaurant from the Soho House group. The relaxed art deco styled brasserie serves breakfast, brunch, lunch and supper with daily specials.

I had been here before but not for a while. We booked a table for lunch at 1pm and the outside terrace and half the restaurant were already packed. I felt quite uncomfortable when we were seated as it all felt very untidy and chaotic - lots of mess left on empty tables and everyone crowded onto too small tables practically on top of each other. I had seen that the restaurant didnt have the greatest reviews online but I had never had a bad meal here before so I tried to keep an open mind.

We perused the Saturday brunch menu although I already knew I was going for a cheeseburger with mac and cheese, Pascal went for the same and we decided to share escargots with garlic butter and burrata with heritage tomatoes to start. There is plenty to choose from though such as eggs Benedict, full English breakfast, steak and chips, aubergine parmigiana, duck confit….

Arabella chose from the childrens menu - mac and cheese. The waitress had suggested that she might be too old for the kids menu (she is 7) which I thought was a bit bizarre!!

Anyway Arabellas arrived with our starters much to her delight - it didnt look very impressive but she assured me it was delicious! I personally think it could have come with some greens such as peas or cucumber sticks…..Id say pizza express do a superior kids meal to this…Arabella disagreed!

Pascal and I split the starters and were very pleasantly surprised as they were both absolutely excellent. The burrata was creamy and the tomatoes so fresh and colourful.

The snails were served in a garlic and parsley butter and were also incredibly delicious - flavoursome but not rich and we all enjoyed dipping the bread in the sauce!

The cheeseburgers were served "au cheval" style which apparently means they come with an egg - I so didnt know this. They also had a triple patty - I wasnt expecting this either!

However the burgers were really really good - thin patties, lots of cheese, red onions, pickles and lettuce. Even though I had imagined a totally different type of burger - I very much enjoyed this and the fries were excellent - crispy and salty.

Like always we over ordered but I couldnt resist the mac and cheese. This was really cheesy with a crispy topping and truly irresistible.

We were all full to the brim and very satisfied. Despite my initial misgivings, we had a really good meal. The service was quick and efficient, the food very good and it was reasonably priced. 

On our way back to the car we passed The Outsider Tart, an authentic American bake shop with brownies, cupcakes and treats galore - another recommendation - we bought some goodies to take home and they were fabulous!!

High Road House & Brasserie

162-170 Chiswick High Road

London

W4 1PR

Tel: 020 8742 7474

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