Tuesday 25 November 2014

Apple Crumble

At Carlson Gracie Essex last Thursday, we had the pleasure of Clark Gracie's presence gracing our mats. I had been to one of his seminars last year in Kent and was so impressed and was over the moon to hear that he would be coming to our Colchester gym.

Our head coach Alain brought Clark to the gym with a room full of 30 something people. Our gym isn't the biggest, so numbers were limited, and the places were reserved as quickly as the word was out that Clark was going to visit.

Clark is the cousin of Carlson Gracie Jnr, so when we started the warm up drill, Clark took it from something that Carlson Jnr showed him. We did a few more drills, then went straight on to techniques.

Its so refreshing when you go to a seminar and someone magically shows you the techniques that you have been getting stuck in and can't get out of or complete for a few months. This was it! I've been using reverse De La Riva for a while, and not been able to finish what I started. After Clark showed his technique, I was enlightened.


Clark showed a couple more techniques, and finished off with the Omo Plata. What seminar would be complete unless Clark showed this?

Clark is a brilliant professor, he was so involved in watching everyone and making sure they were doing everything correctly, not only that, you could see that there was so much more that he wanted to show us, but time was running out and we had some sparring to do.
Clark got involved and sparred with some of the students. It wasn't meant for me though, so maybe next time when he comes again I'll get to spar with him.




It was such a brilliant night of training and learning, and I can't thank my coach Alain enough for bringing him to the gym to teach us. We are so lucky at Carlson Gracie, we don't have many seminars, but when we do, they are some of the top competitors in the world.

Now for the food.

At the end of the summer, I made this crumble using Rhubarb. It was delicious, so now that cooking apples are in season, I thought that I'd give it a go too. It's Paleo friendly and not fattening at all as all the sugar is natural.

Ingredients:

2 large cooking apples
1 Teaspoon of cinnamon
1 Tablespoon of Honey (optional)

The Crumble:
120g Mixed nuts (unsalted and roasted)
20g mixed seeds
20g Raisins
Tablespoon of ground almonds
Tablespoon of coconut oil
Tablespoon of honey

Method:

Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees C
Peel the apples, core and slice. Layer the tin with the sliced apples, add 1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon, then layer the apples until all the apples are used, add the remaining cinnamon and add the honey if you like. I didn't because the sweetness of the apples and crumble were enough, but the honey doesn't hurt to add it.
Cover the tin with tin foil and place in the oven for 30 minutes.
While the apples are steaming, melt the coconut oil and honey in a pan
Place the nuts in a food processor and chop until they are in small bits, transfer to a bowl and then add the seeds, ground almonds and raisins. Add the coconut oil and honey and mix well.
Once the apples are ready, take to foil off the tin and cover the apples with the crumble mixture. Lower the heat to 175 degrees C and bake for a further 8-10 minutes, or until the topping has turned golden. Let it cool for 5 minutes, then serve and enjoy!


If you're on a cheat day, the crumble tastes amazing with ice cream or custard. Mmmmm

Jolie x

Friday 14 November 2014

No Corn, Corn bread

It's been almost two weeks since I competed in the World Masters BJJ Competition in Los Angeles, and what a day it was!!
I had arrived in LA on Wednesday 29th, and took a sleepy drive down to San Marcos in San Diego to visit my aunt Stacie and uncle Eddi who were letting me stay for the week I was there. It's always great to see them as they are so much fun to be around. It was the first year since 1982 that I had been there for Halloween.
We dressed up and visited the school where my aunt works as all the teachers had costume and cake competitions. My aunt won both! I could feel a winning weekend coming on.
On Halloween night we went to a friends house and enjoyed some Mac and cheese and corn bread. My weight was really low that morning, 54.6kg and I had plenty of room to fill myself with energy food. I fell in love with cornbread! I remember having corn dog's when I was younger, dipped in mustard and ketchup. I wouldn't dream of having that now.
Halloween was a lot of fun, especially trick or treating. Everyone was trying to tempt me with candy, but I've got so used to saying no to it, another day doesn't matter. The best part was visiting a lady's house who completely transformed every part of her home in to a Haunted House. Only in America would that happen!


I had a great nights sleep and woke up fresh for the day.
We took a drive up to Long Beach, checked in and found my other Carlson Gracie team mates. It wasn't long before it was time to warm up. I watched the first fight in my bracket to see who would win. Marcia from Hawaii was my first opponent.
As I went through the bull pit, then the Gi check, then the weigh in area, my nerves kicked in BIG style!! My stomach was in knots and hurt so much! The only way I could calm myself down was to breath in and hum my breath out.
I was up next and Marcia from Hawaii was my first opponent. I looked up at my uncle Eddi, gave him the thumbs up and went on the mats. After shaking hands, she quickly pulled guard and almost got an arm bar. My elbow wasn't in the danger zone, so although it looked bad to my team mates, I got out of it. The fight was great and a lot of fun. I noticed that I was really calm and collected and my muscle memory from the drills we do in class took over.
The fight went the full distance and I won 11-2.

My next match was with Chanda. We were in the same division last year and Chanda came third. Although I came second last year, I hadn't come all the way to LA to mirror the same result. Chanda was tough, probably my toughest fight of the day. She had the most amazing grips that I just couldn't break. The fight started when Chanda went for a leg vine take down, the same technique Simon Hayes taught a few days before, so I was prepared and sprawled my legs away from it. She pulled guard and I really had my work cut out, but I managed to pass the guard and secure the 3 points. I must confess, I played a really safe game as I wanted to win so much. I could hear my friend Kirsty shouting at me from the side "Go on Jolie, you can do it!!" That helped massively and felt like I had some great support.
The fight cost me 2 penalties, but it was worth it for the title of Master 2 Blue belt feather weight World Champion and I won the fight with 3 points and 2 penalties.





With Kirsty Fright - UK Ladies doing well at the Worlds

My family and team mates were over the moon. Dickie Martin from Carlson Gracie London congratulated me, and that always means a lot to me when black belt instructors tell me I've done well.

Later that day I competed in the open class. They mixed the weights really well and I got the heavier girls. The first lady I fought was really aggressive and played a little dirty. I don't actually mind this as it gives me a little fire in my belly. She was inside my guard and was pushing her hand on my boob so much that it was about to fall out! I've never had any embarrassing moments on the mat, and I didn't want it to start now. I went for the sweep, and mounted her from the top, then from the back, and in the last 30 seconds I caught her with a bow and arrow choke.
I could see my uncle in the stand and he was smiling from ear to ear. He was so pleased, as I was too.

My next fight was the semi final and I was matched with a lady called Christy to compete with. She had already won her first match. I pulled guard and from there on it was a battle. It was the most fun on the mats I have had for a long time. Thats what the great thing is about the open class, there is no pressure and nothing to lose. I thought that I should have got two points for a sweep as Christy was on my back and I pulled her down to get the top position, but I later found out that some referee's give the points and some don't. Christy also should have got two points for a takedown, but I think it was just outside the area. Christy won by 1 advantage. So close, and so much fun.


Kendra receiving her Purple belt on the podium

When the day was over, I got changed, then met Eddi and Stacie by the doors. I burst in to tears as the emotions of the day completely took over. What a day! I can safely say it's the best day of my life so far.


 Post competition dinner with Eddi & Stacie in Long Beach
Proud athlete

The next few days were all about chilling out and enjoying family time. We went to San diego to meet my cousin Evan and have lunch on Coronado.

I got my groove on again by Tuesday and the feeling of being run over by a big yellow American school bus had passed and I did a little touring around LA. I went to Griffith Park, something I've always wanted to do, then drove down Melrose and stopped in the Burton shop for some snowboarding gear. I went along to Santa Monica, then down to Venice where I stopped and walked around, enjoyed the beach and the craziness of the place.



 Venice Beach



I gave myself a good 2 hours to get to Costa Mesa, and I'm glad I did because it took me that long in the ridiculous LA traffic. I really wanted to do some training and chose the Art of Jiu Jitsu. I had read their code of conduct for visitors and already knew of their strict rules. I was happy to oblige.
I arrived in the huge white painted gym, had my photo taken and changed in to my fresh white Gi. It was a present to myself for doing so well at the World Masters competition.
I was greeted by a lovely Brazilian lady called Thais. She thought I had just joined up, but I told her that I was just a visiting guest. I recognised her, then found out that she was weighing in all the athletes at the competition that past weekend. Small world! She became my training partner for the evening.

Guilherme Mendes took the class. I knew he was small, but he was actually tiny. We warmed up for a few minutes, then partnered up to drill a takedown set up. We drilled 2 more techniques for about 10 minutes each, then sparred for the rest of the class. I was so impressed with what I learnt, and not disappointed to know that at Carlson Gracie, we train as hard as AOJ do too.
I really wanted a photo with Gui, but I didn't want to be another tourist BJJ-er. So I took a photo of some Carlson Gracie History that I found amongst the medal decorated walls of the gym.



I was going to go back the next morning for another class, but my plans had changed and spent the day hanging out with my uncle Eddi.




I've made a lot of friends through Jiu Jitsu. This trip being one of them. I loved my trip to America and the Worlds, it has been the most uplifting time of my life.

Now here for the food:

No Corn Paleo Cornbread

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup of Almond Flour
1/4 Cup of Coconut Flour
1/2 Tsp of sea salt
1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
3 Eggs
2 Tbsp of Olive Oil
2 Tbsp of Melted Coconut oil
2 Tbsp of Honey
1/2 Cup of unsweetened Almond milk

Method:

Pre heat the oven to 180 Degrees C
Line a 8x8 baking tin with a sheet of baking paper.
Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl, then add all of the wet ingredients using a hand whisk.
Pour the batter in the tin and bake for 25-30 minutes. Check by piercing with a tooth pick that the centre is cooked through and the tooth pick comes out clean.

Cool on a rack for 5 minutes, then cut in to squares and enjoy warm.


This is so delicious, I doubt that it will last the day. It didn't in our house!!

Enjoy!!
Jolie x