Work & Play

Since I’m leaving tomorrow on another two-week work trip, I had a few errands to do in preparation.  I’m the type of person who will think (worry) about something constantly until it’s done, so with that in mind, I decided to front-load all of my chores so I could just relax and enjoy the rest of the weekend once I was finished.

First up on Saturday morning was a workout.  Even on the weekends, I love getting my workouts done first thing in the morning; not only does it make me feel super productive early on, but it’s also usually my most challenging “errand” for the day, so I like to check it off right away. 

Yesterday’s workout focused mostly on legs, but I also worked on some of the new things I’ve been learning.  Here’s what it looked like:

1. Warmup: 10 minute walk on treadmill
2. Back squats:
1. 10 @ 135lbs
2. 8 @ 155lbs
3. 6 @ 185lbs
4. 4 @ 205lbs
5. {3 @ 215lbs} x3
6. 4 @ 205lbs
7. 6 @ 185lbs
8. 8 @ 155lbs
9. 10 @ 135lbs
3. Workout (5x):
1. 10 Box jumps
2. 5 Handstand push-ups
3. 10 Deadlifts @ 55lbs
4. 5 Cleans @ 55lbs
4. {12 Plié squats @ 95lbs} x4
5. {10 Snatches @ 35lbs + 5 Shoulder presses @ 35lbs} x4
6. {10 Cleans @ 35lbs + 5 Close-stance front squats @ 35lbs} x4
7. {10 RDLs @ 35lbs + 10 Close-grip bench presses @ 35lbs} x4
8. Core (4x):
1. 20 Swiss ball crunches
2. 15 Swiss ball back extensions
3. 20 Overhead side bends
4. 15 Hanging knees lifts
9. {5 Inverted rows} x5
10. {10 Hanging shrugs + 10 Calf raises} x3
11. Cool down: 5 minute walk

When I got home, all I wanted for breakfast was a bacon and egg sandwich.  I resisted Dunkin Donuts so hard, until suddenly I remembered coming across Tina’s recipe for a microwave English muffin.  Honestly, I was a little skeptical about it at first, but I think I was also a little desperate.  Sometimes, toast and bread is just so tempting – especially for special weekend meals – but I’ve been trying so hard to really be conscious of my dairy/grain/gluten intake again over the past few days, and it seems to be working, so I really didn’t want to blow it.

I followed Tina’s recipe, mixing almond flour, an egg, butter, and baking powder in a bowl (minus the salt), although I did have to microwave mine a bit longer than she specified.  My microwave seems to be weaker than other people’s, plus I think my “muffin” was a bit larger, so I just kept microwaving it until it looked done.

Once it was done, I plopped it out onto a wire rack and let it cool for a few minutes before cutting it in half and popping it in the toaster. 

While it was toasting, I cooked up a couple slices of bacon and two eggs, and I topped the muffin with a little butter once it was done.  Add in some fresh strawberries and blackberries, and this meal was truly fit for a queen!  It wasn’t exactly the egg sandwich I was going for, but it did have all the parts – and honestly, it was way tastier than a DD sandwich would’ve been, plus: no stomach ache. 

I would say the “English muffin” tasted more like a corn toastie (something I used to love when I was younger), but that was totally fine with me.  I absolutely loved it, and I can already see that these are definitely going to become part of my usual rotation from now on.  Thank you, Tina!

After breakfast, I did laundry, finished packing, and then did some baking for my trip. 

I’ve been really bored with egg scrambles lately, so first on the list were banana muffins to try and make things a little more interesting in the breakfast department.  I used this recipe (tripled, minus the chocolate chips), but also added three tablespoons of PB2 for some extra protein.  I’m really not as big of a fan of PB2 as I thought I would be, so the jar’s been sitting in my cabinet forever, and I couldn’t really think of anything else to use to give the muffins a little more staying power.  Luckily, the peanut butter taste isn’t strong at all, and they still mostly just taste like banana cinnamon muffins. 

Next on the list was a batch of my honey almond chocolate chip cookies. 

One of the things it can be so easy to do while traveling is overload on sweets.  Every restaurant, store, and vending machine around is loaded with desserts – and not the healthy kind.  My coworkers often go to Subway for lunch on these trips, and they frequently bring me back cookies, which is really so nice of them, but my stomach always ends up paying for it. 

And besides that, the hotel we’re staying in has these amazing, fresh, warm cookies available at the front door every day when we get back from work, and I can hardly ever resist.  (I’m going to have to start using the back door, I think.)  But I’m hoping that having a stash of these on hand will help me avoid other desserts that don’t agree with me quite so well.

Once I was finally done with all my chores, I did stop at DD’s – not for an egg sandwich, but for a large unsweetened ice tea (which totally made me feel like summer is on it’s way, despite the 40*F weather).  A Fuji apple and some more chips and salsa rounded out my lunch. 

For dinner, Eric and I met up with my friend from work and her husband at a restaurant downtown.  I had never been, but she said it was very good, and she was 100% right.  I had the 12 oz. NY strip steak with julienned vegetables and broiled potatoes, and I’m not exaggerating when I say that I cleaned my plate.  Yeah, it was that good.  (And I guess I was that hungry.)

Being the wonderful person that she is, she brought me a box of truffles from one of her favorite local cafés.  LA Burdick’s is a café and chocolate shop, and she has been telling me I need to check it out for a while now.  I haven’t made it there yet, but after tasting these truffles, it has now jumped to the top of my list! 

The box came with all kinds of different truffles, along with a guide to what’s inside of each of them. I do like to be surprised, but it’s also really cool when you can find out exactly what ingredients are joining forces to create the flavor party going on in your mouth.  I’m not good at guessing, so being able to read all the interesting combinations was pretty cool.

L.A. Burdick’s is famous for their little chocolate mice (my mom and I actually watched a TV show on them once and I just realized it was the same place), and now I can see why!  Not only are they super cute, but (minus the tail), they are also totally delicious!

My friend recently got offered a new job, so she and her husband will be moving away soon, and although I am beyond happy for her, I will miss her very much.  I have never been to Ohio though, so at least now I have a good excuse to go visit!  Thank you for the wonderful chocolates, AB!

Afterwards, we walked around some shops downtown for a bit and then stopped for ice cream.  I went with the (gluten-free, no-sugar-added) vanilla frozen yogurt with Oreos and a waffle cone on the side, and it was delicious.  Just enough to give me a treat – but without a stomach ache.  Maybe I am getting the hang of this, after all!

Time to enjoy what’s left of the weekend… Have a good one, everyone!