Licensed Zumba Instructor !

Hi everyone!!  I'd like to share some news I'm very excited about!  This week I became an officially licensed Zumba Instructor!! Yay!  

I haven't started teaching any classes yet, and it will take another week or so for my ZIN (Zumba Instructor Network) membership to be active so I'm still in the planning stages right now :)   I have created a youtube channel here where I will be sharing some original choreographies, and videos on other topics I'm interested in (like food, nutrition, and cooking)!

Yesterday I created and filmed a choreography to Ricky Martin's song "La Mordidita" which is on the new channel... check it out here !  Hope you like it, and feel free to leave a comment, subscribe, and let me know what you think :)

A group shot after the training - we are all licensed instructors now! :D 

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!!

Just a few pictures from our Thanksgiving lunch!  I tried a new recipe for bacon wrapped Turkey with a special adobo seasoning mix (and made a few changes to the recipe myself too).  Everything came out really tasty, and I think we're going to be full for the next week and a half lol

Sweet Potato Balls stuffed with Marshmallows!

Roasted Vegetables 

Bacon wrapped Turkey (roasted over the vegetables)

Mixed herb salad with Pesto/Ginger/Lemon dressing

A full thanksgiving plate! Yum!

Pumpkin spiced cupcakes for dessert!! (We also had a pumkin pie)

Chocolate Cupcakes

Sugar-free Home-style Banana Bread

Since I've been trying to eat healthier and cutting out artificial sugar and processed food from my diet, I've been searching for easy healthy recipes to make at home.  This recipe makes a great loaf of banana bread with no added sugar at all!  Of course, this means that the bread is not very sweet, but it is still delicious and moist ( I don't like that word! lol) 

I found the recipe randomly by googling and coming across this website: http://www.cooks.com 

Ingredients: 

• 3/4 c. mashed bananas

• 1/3 c. vegetable oil

• 2 lg. eggs

• 1/2 c. water

• 1 tsp. vanilla

• 2 c. flour

• 1 tsp. baking soda

• 2 tsp. baking powder

• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

• 1 c. chopped nuts (I used a combination of slivered almonds and crushed hazelnuts; to make it even more delicious, you could lightly roast the nuts in a dry pan/skillet until they get a light golden colour)            

1. Preheat oven to 325°F

2. Beat together mashed banana, oil, eggs and water until creamy. 

3. Add vanilla, flour, baking soda, baking powder and spices. Beat well. 

4. Stir in nuts. 

5. Spoon batter into oiled and floured 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Spread batter evenly.
6. Bake for 45 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack before slicing.

A walk through Yorkville

A few weeks ago, the weather finally warmed up in Toronto, and the sun came out! So, we decided to go for a long walk through a really nice area of the city and the university campus too.... I love looking at the old buildings!  We also stopped at a little cafe/european grocery store for a coffee and snack :) 

Baked Churros with Nutella dipping sauce

I made homemade churros today!  Churros are spanish doughnut-like pastries, and are traditionally fried and made by street vendors as fast food snacks, or served for breakfast in cafes... but since fried food doesn't agree with me, I baked them, coated them with cinammon sugar and served them with Nutella sauce in my new French Fry diner-style stand.  

They were delicious, and I definitely had too many of them!   The texture was perfect too, crunch on the outside and soft in the middle, but I think I would make them thinner next time cos I prefer them to be a little more crunchy. 

The Best Greek Restaurant in Dubai....

... goes to Elia (in my opinion)!!  I had the best greek food here - everything was made fresh and you'll find traditional dishes as well as dishes that have been modernized.  While I was in Dubai, I visited the restaurant twice; the first time we ordered their dolmades (cabbage rolls), and a spinach salad for starters and for the main course I took the Leg of Lamb (Stifado style) with onions and grated potato.

Then for dessert we ordered their (HUGE) plate of Loukoumades (small doughnut-like balls covered in honey and walnuts) - this was amazing and my favourite part of the meal!  Unfortunately, I didn't take a photo myself because the loukoumades were attacked and disappeared very quickly :S  Here is a photo from the web (our portion was bigger than the one in the photo!):



This photo of Elia is courtesy of TripAdvisor

The second time, I ordered the same starters, a tomato salad for my main, and their chocolate fondant dessert... great quality food again!


This photo of Elia is courtesy of TripAdvisor

For more photos, check out this page (make sure to scroll through the photo gallery on the right):  http://dubaimajestic.com/dubai_press_EN/93/Elia%E2%80%99s_Greek_signature_dishes_impress_at_Taste_of_Dubai_2009..htm

You can find Elia Restaurant in the Majestic Hotel; they are only open for dinner.  You can find more information on their facebook page as well - https://www.facebook.com/EliaDubai?fref=ts

Oatmeal Recipe

This is an oatmeal recipe I often make for breakfast;  it's delicious and filling!  I top it with bananas, cinnamon, blueberries, honey and walnuts... I usually add the blueberries raw, but this time I decided to make it more exciting and cook down the blueberries with the honey into a sauce.

Ingredients:

- 1/4 cup Bob Red Mill's Scottish Oatmeal
- 1/4 cup Milk
- 1/2 cup water
- Drizzle of Honey
- 1/2 Banana
- 1 chopped Walnut
- Handful of Blueberries
- Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- Pinch of Salt

1. Bring water and milk to a boil
2. Add oatmeal, stir, cover and lower heat to a simmer (stir every few minutes)
3. In another sauce pan, bring honey and blueberries to a simmer, cover and let sit for a few minutes
4. Remove oatmeal from heat just before desired consistency; add vanilla extract, cover and let rest for a few minutes
5. Pour oatmeal in bowl, top with reduced blueberry sauce, chopped banana, chopped walnuts and cinnamon.
6. Enjoy with a warm drink!

Pic of the Day

Breakfast in Bed!

It's finally here!

It's my favourite time of year again - December!!! I love this time because I get to spend Christmas with my family!    As always, everyone is extremely busy during the few weeks leading up to Christmas - I have my final exam of the semester soon, and I need to organize and pack everything at the same time since I'm leaving for Dubai the day after (which, of course, means that I can't concentrate on my studies properly since I'm so excited and always thinking about my upcoming holiday!).

I will soon post a picture of my traveling outfit and my new carry-on bag that I bought recently;  I decided to buy a roll-away one since I'm tired of carrying a heavy purse through the airports every year... this will be much better for my back, I'm sure! 

Finally, this post wouldn't be complete without me mentioning FOOD in one way or another!  Recently I brought home some dinner from the italian restaurant "Mercatto" for my sister and I ... we shared their Zucca pizza, goats cheese and mushroom ravioli, and papardelle bolognese and we made some homemade salad on the side.  Everything was so delicious, especially the pizza which had butternut squash, spinach, fontina cheese, and walnuts so I had to recreate it a couple of days later (and it turned out pretty well)!

P.S. Sorry for the blurry picture, it was taken on my phone

Thanksgiving Lunch