The Delectable Delights of Downtown Madrid

May 6, 2014 by TartanJogger ♥ 17 Comments

You all know how much I LOVE my food. Well, Madrid far surpassed my foodie expectations!

They definitely have a sweet tooth; even savoury dishes are often sweet, especially sides like coleslaw.

Here are some of the highlights. I apologise now for the quality of the pics: it may or may not be related to the amount of alcohol consumed 😉

We did the RnR half on the Sunday morning. And, in keeping with previous RnRs, we refuelled at Hard Rock Cafe. We tested out a few of the cocktails, and I carb loaded on the brisket with fries. Yum!

On Monday, we spent lots of time in various tapas bars. As I’m sure you know, if you order a drink, you’re given a lovely, tasty snack.

We tried out Alhambra, and were treated to chicken wings. We supplemented these with a meat platter, pork loin with peppers and goats cheese in a blueberry sauce. Yum!

Stuffed to the gills, we headed onto La Torre del Oro on Plaza Mayor, where we had beetroot and onion, and a potato salad. We also had olives but by that point I could not fit in any more food! This bar is a favourite with celebrities including Bruce Springsteen, and it has been visited by President Carter and several Kennedys.

Tuesday, I had a proper Iberican jamon pizza. Yummy!

And on Wednesday, we were back to tapas during the day, including these dainty smoked salmon, cream cheese & dill sandwiches, and cheeses in Cafe del Oriente. Yes, as you can tell, we had some vino to go with it…..

In the evening, we visited Botin, which is the oldest restaurant in the world. Goya, Ernest Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald, Graham Greene and Frederick Forsyth were all frequent visitors. It was amazing: we had the suckling pig, as recommended and mentioned by Hemingway in his novel ‘The Sun Also Rises’. I then had Bartolillos de Madrid, which are little pastry parcels filled with a lovely, sweet custardy cream. Oh, my!

Thursday saw us visit Mercado de San Miguel. It was so busy, with locals and tourists feasting on all kinds of delights.

There was lovely seafood and savoury snacks:

These are not cakes – they’re buffalo mozzarella:

And, of course, sweet treats:

For lunch, we tried another local speciality: bocadillo con calamares. Amazing!

And, of course, we had yet more tapas….. these are little breads topped with cheese and a spicy sausage, and of course, patatas bravas:

Here’s one of the final dishes I had on Friday: it was fried sardines with padrons de pimentos. It tasted amazing!

We also had churros, frozen yoghurt and lots of beer and wine 😉

If I’m not at least 15 pounds heaver, I’ll be very surprised!

The Temptations on Pinterest

March 27, 2014 by TartanJogger ♥ 27 Comments

Oh, how I love you, Pinterest. I can easily while way hours, scrolling through workouts, fashion, motivation, home interiors and books.

But, how often do I find myself scrolling through tasty treats? All. The. Time.

Sometimes, it’s healthy stuff that I pin and save for later. I’ve tried out lots: some are more successful than others. Disasters include cinnamon quinoa breakfast bars (far too dense) and black bean brownies (dry, dry, dry).

Other times, I can’t resist the naughty stuff. And that’s where I’ve been drawn to recently.

And I’ve found a recipe that not only works, but gives me a warm, tasty, chocolate hit whenever I want it, as all of the ingredients are store cupboard staples. And it’s pretty naughty.

It’s a chocolate mug cake. Dreeeeaaamy! Have you ever tried it?

It takes about twenty seconds to throw together:

Grab a mug. Add in:

1/4 cup of plain flour

1/4 cup of sugar

a pinch of salt

2 tablespoons of cocoa (I use Green & Blacks)

Give the dry ingredients a quick mix together.

Then add in:

2 tablespoons of olive oil

3 tablespoons of water

Mix it all up. If it’s a little dry, add a little more water.

Pop it in the microwave for 1 minute, 40 seconds.

Oh, my. It comes out with just that slight gooiness that is heaven!

Delish!

What’s your favourite pinterest find?

Tasty Tuesday

February 11, 2014 by TartanJogger ♥ 23 Comments

It’s been a couple of weeks since my last foodie post, so I thought I’d share some of my tasty treats from the last week. My excuse for eating such big portions is:

1. I LOOOVE food

2. I’m back in training, so I need fuel 😉

3. Did I say that I just loveeee food?

I’ve had some lovely, homely and filling mid week dinners, courtesy of @TheWelshWookie. There included his delish turkey chilli with brown rice:

Malay chicken salad:

And turkey pesto wholegrain pasta. Yes, I love turkey 😉

On Saturday, we had soup for lunch. Usually, TheWookie would make his own soup, but we tried out Glorious fresh soup. It was good, I’d definitely recommend it:

But we did have some home made roasted onion bread with it:

And here’s my post-long run snack from Saturday:

I’m hungry just posting the pics! And now I’m off to find out what’s on the menu tonight…

What’s on the menu with you tonight?

Tasty Tuesday

January 28, 2014 by TartanJogger ♥ 13 Comments

I’m still trying to keep on top of my eating, and yesterday I shared a pic of the sea bass I had at The Sister’s restaurant.

Here’s some more of my yummy recent treats!

Yes, I think I AM addicted to these Food Doctor pots:

Yet more yummy salmon salad:

A mid week, home made turkey and mushroom curry with wholegrain rice:

A ‘good girl’ dessert:

Here’s the fillet steak I had recently at The Grill on the Corner. We had it with a side of brussel sprouts. Yummy, yum!

What have you been eating recently?

The Sisters

January 27, 2014 by TartanJogger ♥ 9 Comments

No, not MY sisters. THE sisters!

It’s the restaurant we visited for my mum’s birthday on Saturday night.

Jacqueline and Pauline O’Donnell are the sisters behind these two Glasgow restaurants, and we visited their Glasgow Kelvingrove restaurant.

The venue is quite small, but very comfortable, and it was very busy when we arrived. The menu was amazing: all freshly prepared, locally sourced ingredients, and it was cooked so well. I’d love to make a return visit!

To start, I had brioche topped with mushrooms and a port and red onion chutney. The portion was very generous. I then had the fish of the day, which was a fillet of sea bass in a lobster cream sauce, with some chive mash and queenie scallops. Wow. It was amazing.

While everyone else tucked into dessert, I had a coffee, as I couldn’t fit one in!

The service from our waitress, Kirsty, was fantastic.

I also found out that Jacqueline, who is head chef, will be one of the chefs representing Scotland on the 2014 Great British Menu, which is great! It’s the first time that a chef from Glasgow will be competing, and the first Scottish woman to compete. She will be following in the footsteps of other Scottish competitors, like Tom Kitchin, Alan Murchison and Tony Singh.

I’m looking forward to seeing how she does!

For more information, visit The Sisters Website.

Did you eat well this weekend?

A Day of Deliciousness

January 18, 2014 by TartanJogger ♥ 22 Comments

Although this is mainly a running blog, and I try to keep it focussed on running and eating well, ~~sometimes~~ lots of times, my life creeps in!

I’m sure that might bore some of you, and I’m sorry about that, but hey- it’s my blog 😉

So, after that intro, I think I’d better warn you. In twelve week’s time, I’ll be married. And so, that means some of my posts might include wedding talk over the coming couple of months (yawn, I hear you say!).

Today has been a day of getting organised. We only set the date back in late October, and although we have booked the main things, not many of the details have been ironed out. Hence, today is planning day! 😮

I’m trying not to turn into Bridezilla!

Of course, it also means that I have a fancy frock to fit into. And so, the healthy eating has been moved right back to the top of my agenda, where it should be! Last night I had a fab salmon salad for dinner. It was amazing! I had it with a couple of new potatoes, some chilli beetroot and light coleslaw.

So far today, I’ve had a breakfast smoothie, with strawberries, raspberries, yoghurt, chia, flax and protein powder:

Followed by another delicious Food Doctor pot for lunch:

And we have a lean pork casserole in the slow cooker for dinner. It’s smelling yummy!

What’s on your menu today? Any wedding tips you’d like to share?

A Weekend in Glasgow

January 12, 2014 by TartanJogger ♥ 6 Comments

Hi, folks!

Have you had a relaxing weekend, or a busy one?

We’ve has a busy one in Glasgow, though it’s been lots of fun! @TheWelshWookie, my sis Angie and I had a late lunch yesterday at the new Hard Rock Cafe in Glasgow. It opened at the end of November, and this was our first chance to visit.

Wanna see inside?

After some good food, and a few cocktails, we met up with Angie’s bf Ryan, and my mum. We had tickets booked to see The Hobbit in 3D at the IMAX theatre in Glasgow.

Here’s some pics of our walk over the Clyde:

It’s a bit of a family tradition: since Angie was small, we’ve gone together to the showings of the Harry Potter films, The Lord of the Rings, and now the Hobbit films. We’ll have to find something else next year, after the final instalment of The Hobbit!

No running this weekend: lots of walking, though!

Foodie Friday

January 10, 2014 by TartanJogger ♥ 18 Comments

Welcome to the weekend, y’all!

Today, I’ve been thinking about all of those lucky ducks in Orlando, running the various Run Disney races! In particular, I was thinking about PirateBobcat who is half way through the Dopey Challenge.

I’d love to run that! Maybe next year! 😉

This week, I tried had to climb back onto the healthy eating bandwagon, I really did. And I’ve been only partially successful! Here’s some of my eats from this week, and last week:

Here’s the seafood starter we had at the New Year Gala Dinner. It was awesome!

We enjoyed some lovely treats: marinated sun dried tomatoes and mozzarella. Yum!

Here’s an attempt at some healthier eating. It as like a healthy pot noodle, and was delish!

: Maybe next week I’ll get back on track…. 😉

The Return of the Routine

January 5, 2014 by TartanJogger ♥ 15 Comments

Well, the house has been de-Christmassed, we’ve unpacked from all of our recent adventures, and for us, the New Year routine starts tomorrow.

Back to running more routinely, back to eating better, back to planning for all of our 2014 adventures!

Thank you to everyone for your encouragement with my metres to miles idea….. I’ll keep you posted!

Are you back to your normal routine? 😉

Festive Food

January 1, 2014 by TartanJogger ♥ 10 Comments

Ok, so I’ve eaten well over the past couple of weeks. Very well, actually.

Wanna see?

	Still a Runner on The Great Post Lockdown W…
	TartanJogger on Weekly Workouts
	Still a Runner on Weekly Workouts
	TartanJogger on Weekly Workouts
	The Running Princess on Weekly Workouts

TartanJogger

Adventures in living well, quotes and very slow running

Tag: eating

The Delectable Delights of Downtown Madrid

The Temptations on Pinterest

Tasty Tuesday

Tasty Tuesday

The Sisters

A Day of Deliciousness

A Weekend in Glasgow

Foodie Friday

The Return of the Routine

Festive Food

Please share this:

Please share this:

Please share this:

Please share this:

Please share this:

Please share this:

Please share this:

Please share this:

Please share this:

Please share this: