Whole wheat apple pie

I live in the country of savoury pies, but to be honest, pies will always be sweet to me. I tried a lot of different fillings, but I always go back to the basics: apple. This is my recipe, it is made from whole wheat flour only, and just a wee drop of brown sugar, so it is perfect, if you want to bake something impressive, but still want to stick to your diet. 

Ingredients

Dough:

500 g whole wheat flour

250 g butter or baking margarine

pinch of salt

ice cold water

Filling:

1 kg of apples

2 tablespoons of cinnamon

1 tablespoon of brown sugar

3 tablespoons of oats

Method

Cut your butter/margarine up to small cubes. We need it cold and hard, so this way it is going to be easier to crumble it together with the flour. Mix the salt in with the flour, then add the butter cubes, and work them together, till you can only see crumbles of the butter. Then add the water, small amounts at a time. Try to be as quick as possible, so the butter won't melt from the heat of your palms. Once it is done, throw the dough in the fridge, while you are preparing your apples. 

Peal the apples, then cut them up. I like to leave them quite chunky, the more rustic the better the pie. :) Sprinkle them with the cinnamon and the brown sugar, and put them aside. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees (Celsius). Make two balls from your pie dough. Roll one of them flat, measure it to your pie dish (I use this from IKEA). It has to be bigger than your dish, so your filling won't come out of it. Once it is big enough, roll the dough on your rolling pin, then put it in your pie dish. The dough breaks easily, but this way you have your best chances. :) Sprinkle your oats at the base of your pie, it will absorb all the yummy apple juice that comes out during baking. Then add your apples. For the top layer of dough you can just roll an other sheet of dough, and put it over the fruits. Just make sure you poke some holes in the dough with a fork, so the steam can come out. Or you can do what I did. It takes longer, but it is sooo pretty it worth the time. Just cut 1 cm thick strips from your dough, then start putting them on your pie, and weave them together. 

When you are finished, go around your pie and cut the excess dough off, then push the bottom and the top layer together with a fork. To make sure the outer edge of your pie won't burn, protect it with a strip of tinfoil like this. Now it is time for baking. Halfway through (when you can see the top getting a bit brown), take your tinfoil off. The pie should be in the oven for 25-30 minutes. 

After removing from the oven, let it cool down, because it can easily fall apart when you cut in it while still hot. Try to be patient, I know it smells like heaven. :) 

Let me know if you try this recipe out, I would love to see photos as well! 

You look great! What is your secret?

I changed my lifestyle 3 months ago now, so of course people started noticing the difference. I am going to be honest with you, it feels quite nice when people notice and compliment. What is funny, when they start asking about my secret. Everyone in the world wants magic. Not the Harry Potter type (of course I want that as well tho!), but the Jabberwocky type. Which will revolutionize the way we do business weighloss. (Let me know in the comments below if you understood the reference. Virtual high five.) Everything seems easier, when there is a secret ingredient you never heard of. That is why you never managed before, because you didn't try the thing. Wether if it is losing weight, or starting your own business, or moving to a different country, there has to be a secret. There has to be something, which makes it easier, and since you don't have that secret, it is not your fault that you never managed before. There has to be a pill, a prayer, a ritual or something. 

(source)

 Well I am sorry to say, there is no spoon secret. If you want to change, and you want your results to last, you just have to work for it. You just have to start eating right, start walking, running, cycling, and believing in yourself. There are some pills and powders and stuff that might work for a short period of time, and can make you feel that you still can eat a large pizza from Dominos and lose weight at the same time, but trust me, they are not good for you. Eating right and working out is good for you. And you will see it in the long run, that it was the right choice. When you eat right and don't make your system do crazy things, your body will transform at its own pace, and it is less likely that you end up with loose skin all over, and you won't look sick during the process. Sometimes, when people do silly things to lose weight (either taking pills or just starving themselves for a couple of weeks), you can see dark circles under their eyes, they don't look healthy at all. I don't feel or look sick. I am comfident even without make up. 

You know what? I might have a secret. My secret is me. And you have yours as well. You just have to find it. It is there, I am sure. Just look for it.

Cottage cheese and blueberry cookies

Anyone who ever tried to eat healthy will understand me: it is pretty hard to find something that helps with your sweet cravings, but it won't ruin your diet. Fruits usually do the trick for me, but I still need a cookie kind of thing for my cup of tea every now and then. So I was on a hunt for a healthy and tasty recipe. I don't really like paleo diet, but I have to admit you can steal some recipes from them, of course with modifications. :) So this is what I did. The source is a Hungarian paleo blogger, gonna link her blog anyway, I know I have Hungarian readers. :)

What I love about this recipe: it is a small portion, you won't end up with 2 dozens of cookies you feel like you have to eat, so you won't waste food. 

Ingredients

150 g cottage cheese (I use this, it is more like the Hungarian version, drier, perfect for baking)

1 egg

70 g oat flour 

1 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice

brown sugar or a wee drop of honey

a handful of berries 

I don't know about here in the UK, but back in Hungary it was pretty expensive to buy any type of flour that is not the typical white one. But porridge oats are pretty cheap, and with my new blender I easily made flour from it in literally 10 seconds. So I was pretty happy about it. :) Back to the recipe: mix all ingredients except the berries well together, then add the berries, but try not to crush them. Preheat the oven for 180 Celsius (160 if it's an air circulation oven). 

Cover a baking tray with baking paper, then form little cookies from the dough. It is going to be pretty sticky. :) Bake for 15-20 minutes, check on them every once in a while, just to make sure they won't burn. 

They are a bit ugly, but trust me, they are delicious. Even Panda begged for it, when I was taking the pictures. (Yes, she begs for everything, but still, she is a cutiepie.)

My favourite breakfast smoothie

Last week we bought a pretty handy blender, but I mainly use it for smoothies. Haven't tried out the other 2 parts of it yet, but once I studied it inside out, I can update you guys about it, if you are interested. 

Anyway, so I always loved smoothies, and I honestly thought stick blenders are perfect for it. But as I wanted to add more ingredients, ice, etc, my blender just gave up. My friend bought this exact Kenwood set a couple of weeks ago, and raved about it, so I really wanted to try it out. Since I have it, I drink a smoothie at least once a day. Sometimes it is for breakfast, sometimes lunch, or just my mid afternoon snack. I love it. 

First I wanted to share my favourite breakfast smoothie recipe, tasty, filling, perfect way to start your day. 

Ingredients

1 ripe banana

3 tablespoons of porridge oats

150 ml of milk

hint of cinnamon

Usually I am not too keen on milk in my smoothies, I prefer making them with fresh juice, but for this breakfast smoothie it is pretty lovely. I use regular cow milk, but if you are on a special diet, or just want to try something else, you can make it with almond milk, coconut milk, whatever milk you would like. You can leave the cinnamon out, but personally I love it. :) 

I am planning on sharing my favourite smoothie recipes, and would love to hear your ideas of the perfect smoothie!

OMG I am running!

As I said earlier, I started running in June. This is something I always hated as a kid. I honestly think, that people need to thing this whole PE thing over again, because that was my most feared class ever. We were never judged individually, they expected me, the chubby, asthmatic girl to run as much as quick as the gazelle of the class. Never happened. So for most of my life running meant, that I can't breath, people are making fun of me, and I feel a weird taste of blood in my mouth (yay for my asthma). 

However growing up I realised, it was not the running I hated, but the fact that I was made to do it, and no one told me, that I should not just try and run as quickly as I can, but there is a way to get into running. This is why I love the Couch to 5K app I mentioned earlier, because it tells you when to run, when to walk, and I like the Laura, the voice of the app keeps you posted about how many minutes you have left and stuff. Great app, really. :) 

Anyway, back to the running. I was terrified of yesterday's run, for one reason. All it said in the description: begin with a brisk 5-minute warm-up walk, then 20 minutes running, with no walking. At the beginning of each week I always check, what do they have for me for the following 3 runs, and reading this just really scared me. Thanks to this app I was able to run for 8 minutes before, but never in my life I have ran for 20 minutes. But I was positive. Freaking out, but positive. And you know what? I DID IT. I had to plan my route before going for the run, because here in Dundee everything is on a hill, and I am still not strong and good enough to be able to run up a hill for more then 1 minute. Or even less. So I planned my route in the park next to us, and just went for it. I kept telling myself you can do it, of course you can do it. They always say, that progress is more like a mental challenge than a physical, and I found it very true, as earlier I literally panicked myself into an "omg I can't breath" situation, where I had to stop and use my inhaler. Nothing was sore, my legs were fine, my lungs were fine, it was just my brain freaking out about the fact that I was running. So since then I always tell myself, that everything is ok, and I never experienced any pain or soreness. It is just my brain trying to sabotage me. Need to kick it's arse, that's all. 

So back to my 20 minutes. When I reached the end of the run, I almost started crying. If you told me 2 months ago, that I am going to run for 20 minutes without stopping and having no problems with it, I would have probably laughed at you and told you, you were an absolute idiot. But still here I am, writing this, and I cannot wait for my next run tomorrow. :) This is the first time I feel like I am actually a runner. Not just someone who is trying too hard and just tortures herself in the park, but I actually enjoy it, I look forward for the next one, and I started google-ing about races. Because I want to have this as a proper hobby. And I love the benefits, love to see the results, love the feeling when I get home, and I just throw my clothes on the floor and I jump in the shower and I am just so proud of myself. 

I will keep you guys posted, I hope I am going to stay this motivated. :)

Take pictures!!!

So my electric toothbrush's charger died today, and I didn't remember what model was it. What I remembered, that I took a picture of the box when I bought it (perks of instagraming everything, amirite?). So I started looking through my old pictures on dropbox. Of course I never found the one I was looking for, however I found an old selfie of mine, from the end of last September, the day we moved in to our flat. And my jaw just dropped. I quickly ran and took an other selfie, same mirror, just a different me. 

What a difference! And the strange thing is, I don't even remember being like this. I mean obviously I saw the picture when I took it, but it is just crazy how you can ignore problems you don't want to face. I am not starting to bash my old self, because it was still me, and I was happy and confident, but still it is just amazing to see the results of my hard work. Especially because I feel like I don't always see myself like this, and I need to be reminded, that what I am doing is working indeed. 

So this was a reminder, that taking pictures is very very important! And I am happy I took this selfie last September, because now I can see the results. And I will keep taking pictures like this every month, so I can be an outsider for a second and see, not just look. 

If you are trying to change yourself, do yourself a favour and take a picture now! And try to find one from the past. And then keep taking pictures. I can't even tell you how motivating this is. 

Review: Footner exfoliating socks

So it is summer, and even though the weather is not treating us here in Scotland, I like to get my sandals out. Just so I can still pretend it is warm. :) I always struggled with dry and hard skin on my feet, since I spend 98% of my working hours standing and walking. I never really liked foot graters, I have a filer, but I don't find it very effective. I was thinking about buying that School electric pedi thing, but first I wanted to try this sock out, as I liked the reviews. 

Now I am a lazy person when it comes to exfoliating feet. I don't like to balance over the bath so the dead skins don't fly everywhere. And it is hard work to exfoliate for minutes (says the runner, haha, but still). These socks promised results without scrubbing, so I gave it a go. The way it works is quite interesting, there is some kind of chemical in it, which will make your dead and dry skin peel off in 10 days. I find it quite pricey, it was £19.99 in Boots, but since I only read good things about it, I wanted to try it. 

It says, you have to wear the socks for 1 hour. It is basically a weird plastic slipper, filled with liquid, that you put on your feet for an hour. You should put on a pair of your own socks as well, to keep it in place, then they said it was perfectly fine to walk in them around the house. Now I didn't have the courage to do it, I didn't feel it safe, so I just sat for an hour watching Netflix. It was also advised to put some vaseline on top of your feet, so your skin will not peel there. After an hour I removed the socks and washed my feet with warm water as I was told. And then I waited for the wonder. 

I did the treatment on Thursday, and there was nothing weird for 3 days. I started to think that I just wasted 20 quid on nothing, and started getting annoyed, but then on Sunday, after a long day of shopping, when I arrived home I noticed that on my heels I had some huge blister-looking dry skin patches. So it begins I thought. And I was right. From that day I felt like a lizard. I read that some people found it disgusting, but to be honest it kinda amused me, that without any pain or discomfort my dry skin just fell off and I had babysoft skin underneath. It is Wednesday today, 13 days after the application,  and I just stopped shedding. :D The vaseline didn't work a 100%, the top of my foot still dried out a bit, but I just applied some cream and it was all jolly good. I had an area on my right heel with some really stubborn dry skin which sadly didn't go away, but my other foot and everything else is like brand new. 

Overall I am very happy with this purchase, it is a bit pricey, but I think it is great. They say the result will last for 3 months, now I am interested in that, I think it is quite a long period, but I'll see how it goes. I am still thinking about buying that electric pedi thingy, but I will wait a couple of weeks for sure. 

Even if you just want to do this treatment once a year before summer starts, it is a great way to refresh your skin on your feet. Just make sure you do it well in advance before any events, because your feet won't look pretty for almost a fortnight. You cannot wear sandals during the shedding period. Other than that, this is brilliant. :)