SKINNY SUN-DRIED TOMATO & FISH ROULADE

Experimenting with recipes is something I love to do. This recipe is originally from Jamie Oliver's Happy Days with the Naked Chef, but I gave it a healthy twist: less salt, extra spinach and tomatoes, and no added oil!

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 700g of any white fish fillet of choice
• 150g of prosciutto crudo (parma ham)
• A handful of sun-dried tomatoes
• 10 black olives
• Rosemary, dried or fresh
• 1 tin of peeled tomatoes
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 150g of fresh spinach
• pepper
• Cherry tomatoes and additional black olives (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius

2. Cover the bottom of an oven dish with parma ham and distribute all the fish evenly on top

3. In a separate bowl, blend the sundried tomatoes, olives and a teaspoon of rosemary together until smooth

4. Spread the mixture out on the fish fillets and wrap the ham on the bottom around it by folding it over

5. Mix the peeled tomatoes and garlic cloves together and pour the sauce next to the roulade

6. Place the spinach leafs on top of the tomato sauce, and add tomatoes and olives if you like

7. Cook in the oven for about fifteen minutes, or until the fish is ready.

WHY YOU SHOULD AVOID HYDROGENATED OILS

Reading food labels is pretty essential for achieving a healthy diet in order to detect added sugars, preservatives and... hydrogenated oils. Possible one of the worst artificial ingredients around, hydrogenated oils are vegetable oils that have been manipulated to extend their shell life. Since the 1990s researchers have discovered that they have extremely negative effects on our health, but as food companies are particularly attracted to the fact that these oils last longer than natural ones, hydrogenated oils continue to be found in processed products. 

Producing this type of solid oil works as follows: vegetable oil is cooked at high temperatures in the presence of hydrogen and a catalyst metal (such as nickel). Healthful oil is thus turned into a harmful one, since unstable fatty acids, which are present in natural oil, are converted to trans fat. This conversion is exactly what makes hydrogenated oil so bad. Trans fat is like toxic - it is not recognised by our bodies and therefore not digested properly, leading to an impressive list of awful medical conditions. To name a few: heart disease, an increased risk of cancer, type 2 diabetes, autoimmune disease and weight gain.

So, what products contain these wrongdoers? And, more importantly, how can you avoid them in your diet? The most common example of hydrogenated oil is margarine, easily replaced by soy butter, vegan butter or non-hydrogenated margarine from specific brands. Vegetable shortening, white bread, flour tortillas, fast food, donuts, icecream and most peanut butters are recommended to be skipped, too. Instead, opt for food that is as close to its natural state as possible. The shorter the shelf life, the better. Cut down your intake of processed food, always check food labels on packaged products for terms like 'hydrogenated oil' and 'high fructose corn syrup' and focus on non-hydrogenated oils like extra virgin olive oil, pumpkin seed oil, avocado oil and peanut oil are great options. Don't always rely on products telling you they contain 0 grams of trans fat, because companies are allowed to write this when the food contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving. Changing up your diet requires determination and can be a bit of a hassle at first, but it is worth protecting your health from all the nasty consequences of consuming artificial oil!

Sources: Pinterest (photo), Wisegeek, 3FatChicks, Livestrong

INSTA UPDATE

ROOS DE BRUIJN



From left to right: Flapper dress for the Great Gatsby party - Portobello Road in Notting Hill - Artisan all-natural icecream in Covent Garden - Champagne after winning a pub quiz - With Irene at the Great Gatsby party - Horse taxi in Avoriaz - My dog Malou on a colourful carpet - Found an inside joke from Jenny in an old school calendar -  Hannah and I on the last Queensday - Cocktails with Sushi at the Hard Rock Cafe Helsinki - Plane to Genevra - Big jump after a bikeride to the sea near my house - Olivia at Portobello Market - Easter eggs - My sister's 21st birthday dinner last weekend - Greece summer 2012

ROOS RENDITION



From left to right: Tuna, cottage cheese and avocado salad - A handful of berries a day keeps the doctor away - Fitnesssss magazines - Another yum salad - 45 Minute spinning workout - I love smoked salmon - Breakfast of yoghurt, mango, almonds and dried prunes - Blueberries, pomegranate, goji berries, almonds and Greek yoghurt - Motivational quote - Shrimp salad - Morning workout using kettle bells - Another delicious breakfast in bed - Fruit is nature's candy - Secret spinach smoothie - Avocado hummus - Ain't nobody got time for lazy Sundays!

UPDATE

It's been a while, here's a quick update! I'm still in Helsinki until Monday, mainly busy with revision and writing my last couple of essays of Year 1 of uni. But, I also got to celebrate Queen/Kingsday on Tuesday! I basically spent my whole day in front of the television following the celebrations in Amsterdam, admiring the pretty princesses and our new King & Queen, who looked beauuuutiful to say the least. Maxima's dress was ah-ma-zing. At night I went to the Dutch Embassy in the city centre for a party with all other Dutch people living in Finland, but I ended up getting food poisoning there so I was ill for the next two days.. great. Anyway, I have my first exam on Thursday so it's probably going to be a bit quieter on le blog for a while! Take careee x

SECRET SPINACH SHAKE

Store-bought juices often contain added sugars & preservatives, and even if you get the pure fruit ones, they are virtually fibre-free due to the removal of pulp. Opt for fresh ones instead for smoothies that are a lot healthier; full of antioxidants, fibre, vitamins, minerals... the list goes on and on. I was a bit skeptical about using spinach in a smoothie, even after tons of bloggers raved about it, so I've been wanting to try it out myself for a while. Since the kitchen in my halls in London is unfortunately not equipped with a blender, I had to wait until my next visit home, so voilà, I present to you my home-made spinach shake. Yep, those bloggers were right, spinach is a sneaky ingredient: it adds loads of nourishing nutrients without affecting the taste of the drink at all! Rather, your tastebuds will be treated with a blend of fresh mango, creamy yoghurt and frozen berries. Yummmmm.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 banana
• 8 strawberries
• 1/3 mango
• 1 handful of frozen blackberries
• 2 handfuls of fresh spinach
• 2 tablespoons of fat free Greek yoghurt

Mix it all together and enjoy!

MY FAVOURITE GYM EXERCISES

I frequently hear girls say they skip weights and only do cardio workouts because they have a fear for 'bulking up'. I used to be one of them, until I started doing Bodypump and realized I couldn't be more wrong. Women don't have the required amount of testosterone to bulk up the same way as men do, so all weights will do is tone muscles and shape up your body. And.. rev up your metabolism so you burn a lot more during those cardio sessions! A combination of weights to tone muscles and cardio to melt the layer of fat on top of those muscles away, is therefore the best strategy if you want to prepare your bikini body for the upcoming season! Here are a few exercises in my gym routine that I find most effective:

ABS

The plank is probably one of the most well-known ab exercises around; it's effective and requires no other equipment. Your back should be straight (unlike the picture above!), elbows below your shoulders, and feet next to each other. Try to stay in this position as long as you can and push a little bit harder everytime to beat your record - mine's currently at 3 minutes and 30 seconds!

The kettlebell move... requires kettlebells. Which I don't have at home, so I used dumbbells instead! Start lying back down, lifting your feet and hands off the ground a tiny bit. Stretch your legs into one line and bring your arms and feet together in the air, raising your shoulders and bum in the process. I love this move, it brings results quickly and really works those abs!

LEGS & BUTT

Excuse me for the cheesy name, I wasn't in my most creative mood when coming up with it! In a way though, it makes sense: the kick ass move works by lying down in a raised knee position with one leg straight up in the air and kicking your butt up so that your shoulders, stomach, butt and knees are in line with each other. Go back to the starting position and repeat 2o times. I recommend doing 3 sets of each leg, it buuuuurns.

I hate dumbbell lunges with a passion, but the reason why I do them anyway is because they work your calves, thighs and bum muscles, all at once. Pretty impressive huh? Use weights to make the move harder, keep your back straight and place your front leg in a 90 degree position. 

ARMS

Here's a way to combat arm flab and tone them in no time: the backflip move! Place your hands above your head, keeping your arms straight. Now bend your elbows and move your hands to your back, behind your head. Make sure to keep your elbows as near to each other as possible for the best results, and do 3 sets of 30 moves.

It's pretty obvious, but I learnt this move during Bodypump classes, and as with lunges, it targets a lot of different muscle groups in one go. The pictures are self-explanatory, so just follow the Bodypump moves above about 20 times and your arms and shoulders will both get a good work-out!

A PHOTO EVERYDAY FOR A YEAR

For those of you who have been around for a while, remember one year ago when I went to see We The Kings in Helsinki and met a couple of the band members afterwards? If you have no idea what I am talking about, or if you're new to my blog, check out this post here! I made it to the CTFxC vlog, but ever since the concert I've been wondering what happened to the picture Charles Trippy took of him in the foreground and a number of fans in the back, including me. Well, I finally found it! I knew he took daily photos of his face for a year after the removal of his brain tumour, and it's been a year - the video is ready and up on Youtube. It's a fun video to watch, but of course I was extra excited when I saw the Helsinki pic at 0:27 ;)

P.S. Click on the picture to see the video!