Kettlebells and lovely kitchen smells!!!

Man, today has been hot.  Hotter than hot, its been el scorchio!

All very lovely and that, but it was the sort of heat that just zaps all your energy and not an awful lot gets done.

Didn't help that I didn't feel too well today, nothing serious, just woman's stuff, you get the idea.  So the weekends are my rest days from excessive exercise, although I normally do a long walk instead.  Today however, I just chilled at home, constantly muttering ...'Oh my god it's hot'!!!

Matt had gone in to work this morning and was up and out at 7, so that meant I was also up and about, no lovely long lie-in which I had planned.

~EXERCISE~

Still, getting up early meant a lot got done before the searing heat really did hit.  I started the morning with a quick 20 minute kettlebell workout.  Kettlebells are great, they are designed for core stability and all over body workout.  I would say they are the hardest easiest workout you can do!!

They focus on whole-body conditioning as lifting and controlling a kettlebell forces the whole body, in particular the core, to contract as a group, building both strength and stability at the same time.

They engage multiple muscle groups at one time, a great option for getting a whole body workout in a short time.

Roughly, the idea is to hold the kettlebell by the handle in both hands and perform a series of 'swings', presses or pulling motions, using the momentum of the weight of the kettlebell whilst you stabilise the body and engage the core.  Other moves require engagement of power from the legs and hips, giving you integrated whole body movements.

Benefits include:-

• Improved coordination and agility
  
• Better posture and alignment – Many exercises work the postural muscles in a functional way
  
• It's time efficient – You train multiple fitness components in the same session including cardio, strength, balance, stability, power and endurance
  
• The exercises are functional and weight bearing which helps increase bone density and keep the body strong for daily tasks
  
• You become more efficient at other types of exercise
  
• Increased power development and endurance, which is great for a variety of sports
  
• It can help protect athletes from injuries – Many injuries happen when you're moving fast and have to come to a stop (a.k.a., eccentric deceleration). Kettlebell exercises actually train the body in eccentric deceleration, which can translate to a healthier, stronger body on the court or field
  
• Low risk of injury when you use good form and the right weights
  
• Simplicity – the exercises are simple, the workouts are straightforward and you only need one piece of equipment  




~BREAKFAST~



The weekends I tend to just eat when I am hungry, I am not doing the training I do in the week so don't need the constant energy boost.  The key though is to make sure I eat things that keep me feeling full, so that I don't pick throughout the day, always been my downfall.


This morning I kick started the day with a big bowl of loveliness, same as my daily little pot of loveliness but obviously in a bowl, and more of it!  I also had a cup of raspberry, cranberry and elderflower tea, really refreshing.


~LUNCH~


A really easy lunch today, was too hot to bother with much.  I spread a couple of small wholemeal tortillas with some reduced fat red pepper hummus, layered spinach on top followed by some roasted red peppers (from a jar in brine, drained) and some chickpeas (from a tin,drained), a sprinkleof smoked paprika  and roll 'em up!  Absolutely gorgeous, but I forgot to take pics, sorry!


~DINNER~



The Hairy Bikers have a new show and book out called the Hairy Dieters, following their recent brilliant success in shedding some timber.  It is great, and basically follows the same concept of the series 'Cook Yourself Thin', making normal, everyday, tasty food in a healthy way.  Not denying yourself any of the pleasures of taste and texture, but cutting out all the crap that people seem to think you need to add to get this, i.e butters, oils, sugars etc.
One of the dishes is a Masala Coated Roast Chicken.  This is similar to something I have done before, then by adapting a Jamie Oliver recipe from his 'Jamie's Great Britain' book, Empire Roast Chicken.  It is a similar concept, only with his he keeps the skin on the bird and just uses some different spices.

I remove the skin, like the hairy bikers do, and make a second skin with a spiced yogurt coating, using the spices I have in already.

So, first of all I dry roast some of the spices in a frying pan for a few minutes until lightly toasted.  These are 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp black peppercorns, and 4 cloves.

When done, I pound them in the pestle & mortar till ground down to a powder.  I then add this to a small bowl along with 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 2 garlic cloves (crushed) and then 1 small pot of 0% Total Greek Yogurt.  Mix it all together and leave to stand whilst you prepare the chicken.

For this you carefully remove all the skin, I start on the bottom and make a small slit to start with, from which with a sharp knife you can then easily separate the rest from the flesh, working all over the chicken until all removed.  The hardest part to remove is from the wings, so I just leave this one, we don;t eat them anyway!

By the way, this is the skin I removed, from a small chicken. On the scales it weighs 1/2 lb, or 200g.  Now, you wouldn't sit and eat 200g of oil or butter on its own would you!!!!  Think of it in the same way.

Anyway, once all skin has been removed, cut along the bone on the bottom of the bird, then press down on the breast bone on the top, this will then butterfly the chicken out, which will make it easier to coat and quicker to cook.

Then, using your hands (clean obviously), rub the yogurt paste all the over bird, both sides.  Cover in tin foil and leave in the fridge for at least 5 hours.

When it's time to cook it, cut some lemon into wedges and place on a rack in a roasting tin, then place the bird on top.  I roasted in the oven at 180oc for about 1 hr 20 minutes, it obviously depends on the size of the bird.  Oh my god, the smells whilst this is cooking are A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!

Whilst this had been cooking I cubed some potatoes and sweet potatoes and cooked in the actifry, adding 1 tsp of curry powder near the end of cooking.

I then served the chicken with the potatoes and a salad made of spinach leaves, red onion, roasted red peppers, radishes and cucumber, with a dressing of 0% Total Greek Yogurt mixed with some mango chutney.

You really don't need to ask just how good this is!!!

Am now going to spend the rest of the evening with my lovely husband, a glass of very chilled white wine in one hand and watching a film .... with the electric fan on full pelt in front of us!

Hope you have all had a great day and enjoyed the sunshine, if you had it.

Thanks again for reading
Jo
xx