Saturday 29 November 2008

Full day shooting

There is good days, then there is better days. Today was one of the most fun days I have had in a long time. As you might already know I am shooting a new Tv series called 10 years younger for channel 7. I got 12 episodes as a personal trainer and to be able to both be a personal trainer and in front of the camera is a bit of a dream come true for me.

This morning I had an outdoor shoot for the show. The sun was shining and I got reminded of why I love Sydney so much. It is a great lifestyle, great weather and I am able to do what I like doing the most. How many people can say that about their lives and their jobs?

I finished up late morning and headed straight over to aussieBum to do what I thought would be some product shoots. As the weather kept being amazing Sean, the owner of aussieBum decided that we should go for a drive. Outdoors once more. I did not complain. We got some great shots down by the water, the best seafood I had in a long time and then still succeeded to get some product shots later in the afternoon. I got home just after 6 p.m.. 

I had plans to go to an MTV party in Bondi but I had another event early the next day and I was tired after a day in the sun I decided to have an early night, rent a DVD, get some dinner and head to bed. Another day had past. 

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Thursday 27 November 2008

In rain, hail or storm...

There is a time for everything they say. Today I had a pool party at 6.30am! After a year of laughter, Merrick & Rosso  & Kate had their final show for the year with Nova 96.9. I had the pleasure to come along, promote aussieBum and have champange mixed with orange juice for breakfast. In my ears that sound like the start of a great day.... except the juice of course. Adulterated Champange is almost illegal in my oppinion. Why change a winning concept?

Short after arrival I got the first cheeky comments thrown to me over the radio. I never met Kate before but Merrick and Rosso hosted the aussieBum Filmink Awards last year and our encounter was broadcasted on national TV. Check the media image gallery for some snaps from the event at the sydney state theatre. 

I figured that Kate is the more polite of the trio as I was prepared for the attack that never really came. With Merrick and Rosso, there is never a question if there will be an attack, you know it will.... you just don't know when or how hard it is going to hit. I guess that is what makes these events highlights you remember. What would the world be without a bit of humor?

It started to rain and I decided that I might as well jump in the pool? We had some more drinks, played a few games and finished off with a classical whirlpool. It was time to finish up. The time was 9.30am and I headed home for a quiet friday afternoon. Hit the gym, cook a nice meal and relax.  Damn, life is good these days... 


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Sunday 23 November 2008

Nutritious and delicious...

After a couple of weeks with less training and more food I am now back on track with a more calculated diet. I have put on a bit of weight over the last few weeks which necessarily isn't a bad thing. To be able to stay fit and lean year round both your mind and you body needs a break now and then.

As I have a good cooking background and love my food I have never understood the chicken, rice and broccoli diet... sure it might "work" but I believe in a variety of food that taste great is the way to go. Here is last nights dinner... who know, you might want to give it a go.





Veal Rack with sweet-potato, beet root and green pepper sauce (4 port)
(471 calories, 41g Protein, 54g Carbohydrate and 11g Fat per serving)


800g Veal Rack (Lean and all fat trimmed away)
600g Sweet Potato
600g Beet root
Salt and Olive oil Spray

Marinade
2 Tbsp Olive oil
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
2 Tbsp Soy sauce
Salt/Pepper/Ground Sage


Green Pepper Sauce
2 Tsp Wheat flour
200 ml Beef or Veal Stock
100 ml Skim Milk
2 Tsp of canned green peppercorn

Marinate the meat in for a minimum 30 min, over night is ideal. Put the oven on 200 degrees and scrub the sweet potato and beet root well. Spray lightly with olive oil spray and salt after taste.

Before throwing the roast into the oven make sure to brown all sides of the roast in a deep pan together with some of the marinade oil. This will seal the meat so you will get a juicy and tender roast. Put the deep pan aside but do not clean as this will be the base to the sauce.

Bring out the roasting dish and cut a onion in quarters and spread the pieces in one end. This is where you place the roast so that it doesn't have direct contact with the roasting dish itself as this will make the meat over cook in the bottom. Then spread the sweet potato and beet root on the other side of the dish. Last thing is to cover the ribs/bones with aluminum foil. The bones leads the heat and will over-cook the meat next to these.

Veal is perfect pink at 60 degrees temperature. You could either make it a guess around 30-40 minute mark or get yourself a meat thermometer and get a perfect roast every time. The choice is yours. Once 60 degrees is reached take out the roast and let rest for 10 minutes wrapped in tinfoil. The temperature will continue rising to 61-62 degrees which is perfect. Turn up the oven to 225-250 degrees to get a crisp surface on the roasted vegetables and start making the green pepper sauce.

Put the deep pan that you used to seal the meat on a hot plate, add 2 tsp wheat flour to the fat and stir as it heats up. Then add the green peppercorns and pour the stock into the pan. Let simmer until reduced to half amount. Add the skim milk and whatever meat juice that has leaked from the roast. Simmer up once more. If the sauce is too thick add more milk and if too light shake another 1-2 tsp wheat flour in 50 ml of cold milk and pour into the sauce. Simmer for another 5 minutes to get rid of any "flour taste".

Cut up the roast and you are ready to enjoy...



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Friday 21 November 2008

Sunday roast

Sunday, a day that for the last couple of years been my “day off”. The day when I spend most of my day doing very little. Breakfast in bed, coffee with friends and dining out. 


This weekend I decided to do something I haven’t done for a long time. A traditional sunday roast. Four spatchcocks in the oven, pumpkin and asparagus in the steamer and of a good bottle of red wine. I was ready to relax. I had forgotten how much I actually enjoyed cooking. The smell of roast dinner spread through the apartment building. I felt good making the effort of cooking up a nice, nutritious dinner.


I wasn’t trying to make this dinner “healthy” as there was full cream in the gravy and a good amount parmesan in the stuffing but I think that real home cooked dinners are underestimated both from a culinary and nutritional point of view.


If more people learnt to cook basic foods from scratch rather than using all those processed foods that most of us eat today, if people sat down to eat rather than throwing down a pre made lunch in the matter of minutes I am sure that we would have a healthier and less over weight Australia. Sound nutrition is not about cutting out any foods but to understand and balance the foods you eat. Everything in moderation is what nutrition is all about. Sure I wouldn’t eat creamy sauces and drink wine everyday but now and then they still have a part in my diet.


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Effort and Reward, Hand in Hand...

As a kid I always got told that you get out, whatever you put in to something.


Times you are really excited about doing something you tend to do a good job. What I wanted to focus on is the days when everything goes wrong, when you oversleep, spill your morning coffee and you have no energy to even bother. Why is that? Does bad things comes in threes? 


When I first arrived to Australia I was happy to be here. I had no place to stay, no money to talk about and no job. I did have a positive outlook on life and was dedicated to make it work. I got a job the second day in the country, selling telephones door-to-door. I got explained to me that it was 100% commission which really excited me. 


The thought of earning as much as I wanted was the only thought in my head. I ended up doing pretty well in that job but the most important experience I got out of it was that the days I let negative thoughts getting in the way for my goals where the days I did not earn any money. 


Keeping positive even though you oversleep, spill your coffee and feeling low is hard but the effort you put in equals the reward you get in return.

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The choice is yours...

You always have a choice.  How easy is it to make the right once? 


The other morning I had an early start. At 5 am my alarm clock went off and I made myself ready to get my cardio done. After breakfast and a shower I headed of to work in a rush. I stopped at a cafe to get a coffee and a snack for later on. Normally I would have planned my day better and already have pre maid meal in my bag but this morning was one of those mornings when the bed seemed so much more tempting than normal and I ran out of time.


Facing the limited choices of food at this particular cafe made me realize how hard it is to do the right choices. I had pies, sausage rolls, pastry or a shiny pink glazed doughnut in front of me, neither that caught my attention. Each one of these most likely contains half my daily

 intake of fat and way more calories than I really should have for morning tea. For a “healthier” options there where banana bread and low fat muffins which still contains 300-400 refined calories.


Sure, there is good choices out there, but how hard are they to find? My choice for this morning was to wait with morning tea until later on when I could get my hands on some almonds and a piece of fruit. 


Education is the base in making a lifestyle change and to find out where you are going wrong I recommend all my clients to have a look at www.calorieking.com.au and search their favorite foods to learn what choices to make. Then at least we know what foods to eat. Next step will be to locate the better options.


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Wednesday 12 November 2008

You get out what you put in

As a kid I was always told that you get out whatever you put in to something.

The times you are really excited about doing something you tend to do a really good job. Now what i really wanted to focus on is the days when everything goes wrong, when you oversleep, spill your morning coffee and you have no energy to even bother.

Why is that?

Why do people say that bad things comes in threes?

When I first arrived to Australia I was so happy to be here. I had no place to stay, not really any money to talk about and no job. I did have a positive outlook on life and was dedicated to make it work.

I got a job the second day in the country, selling telephones door-to-door. I got explained to me that it was 100% commission which really excited me.

The thought of I could earn as much as I wanted was the only thought in my head. I did end up doing pretty well in that job but the most important experience I got out of it was that the days I let negative thoughts getting in the way for my goals where the days I did not earn any money.

Keeping positive even once you overslept, split your coffee and feel low is hard but the effort you put in equals the reward you get back.

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