It’s Monday Already?
Posted: June 10, 2013 Filed under: breakfast, cardio, crossfit, daily, dinners, groceries, meal prep, recipes, sides, snacks, strength, workouts | Tags: breakfasts, cardio, crossfit, daily, desserts, dinners, groceries, meal prep, recipes, sides, snacks, strength, workouts Leave a comment »This weekend was a little bit backwards from how my weekends normally go – mostly because of the weather. Saturday started off cloudy and rainy, and I had to go into work for a few hours in the morning, so I decided to get all my weekly chores out of the way right off the bat.
After work, I headed straight to the gym to get in one more workout for the week. Being at the Y on a Saturday morning between 9 and 11 is really not fun to me because of how crowded it gets, but luckily by the time I was finishing up, it was clearing out.
Despite the crowds, I do love Saturday workouts because they often mean I can spend as long as I want in the gym. I can move slower, spend more time on things I want to work on, and practically get as much in as I feel like with nothing pressing to rush off to. That’s definitely how it went this weekend, and it was good to spend some extra time stretching and working on some new moves that I’ve been trying to master.
Here’s what my Saturday workout looked like:
- Warm-up + stretch
- Back squats:
- 12 @ 95#; 10 @ 105#; 8 @ 135#; 5 @ 155#
- 5×3: 185#; 155#; 135#; 105#; 95#
- 15×3 @ 35#:
- Shoulder press
- Upright rows
- Front squats: 5×5 @ 95#
- 1 Snatch + 5 Overhead squats x10 @ 55#
- Squat cleans: 5×5 @ 553
- Sumo deadlift high pulls: 5×5 @ 55#
- RDLs: 5×5 @ 55#
- Snatch drills
After my long workout, I headed home to clean my apartment and do my laundry, stopping for lunch in between. I wanted Mexican, so I cooked up chicken and peppers in a pan on the stove with chili powder and cumin, and had some chips and salsa on the side.
The rest of the day was spent shopping for new workout pants (found a pair at TJ Maxx) and running errands. And while I was out… all I was thinking about was pizza. I haven’t had pizza in quite a while, so I was thinking about stopping to pick one up, when the idea hit me: cauliflower crust pizza. I’d been wanting to try it out for a while, and with some time to kill and a craving for pizza, it seemed like the perfect opportunity. It came out absolutely wonderful too, so I’ll definitely be sharing the recipe later this week.
I woke up early on Sunday and started the day off with a big batch of extra-green spinach banana pancakes with syrup, berries, and bacon. I’m not quite sure what went wrong this time, but they all stuck to the pan and it was rather devastating. Luckily they were still delicious (even if they weren’t that pretty), but I think it might be time to buy a new, non-burnt pan…
After breakfast, I hurried off to meet up with a couple friends to hike Mt. Monadnock. It was the absolute perfect day for a hike – sunny and warm but not brutally hot.
Apparently a lot of other people had the same idea as we did because the parking lot was packed, but luckily the trail didn’t feel crowded at all. We took a trail I’d never done before, which seemed far less-traveled than the main one, and we only passed by a few other groups the entire time.
The clear skies made for picturesque views all around, and I took it all in from the top. I’m severely directionally-challenged, but on a clear day, they say you can see Boston from the summit.
How lucky am I to live in such a beautiful place?! (The correct answer would be: pretty dang lucky.) I absolutely love it here.
Once we made it back to the base, I headed home and spent a couple hours out lounging by the pool at my apartment. It wasn’t quite warm enough for me to want to take a dip, but it was nice to get a little sun.
And the last stop of the day was the kitchen for some meal prep. Since I did groceries on Friday, my fridge is absolutely filled to the brim with food… Chicken, steak, eggs, fruits, and veggies galore!
This week, I decided to take the easy route and make one batch of meatloaf filling and turn it into two different types of meals. Sometimes I make a meatloaf that lasts me practically an entire week, but I’m so sick of it after a few days that I’m shoving it in just to keep from wasting it.
To avoid that, I combined a pound of ground turkey, two plum tomatoes, one green pepper, one egg, about 1/4 cup of almond flour, and a couple tablespoons of tomato paste (ingredients: tomatoes), to make the base. Then, I put half of it into a loaf pan and topped it with bacon, and made half of it into meatballs. I baked both in the oven, cooked up some green beans to go with the meatloaf, and peppers to go with the meatballs (I’ll probably add fresh spinach when I actually eat them), and voila – two very different meals.
I don’t usually add tomato paste to my meatloaf, but I tried it out for dinner last night, and I think it was a great choice. I had it leftover from Saturday’s pizza, and it definitely gave the meatloaf an extra kick and made it nice and moist.
I also had quite a few bananas laying around, so I made a batch of banana bread muffins using three bananas, six eggs, about 1/3 cup (maybe?) of almond flour, a big tablespoon of coconut flower, a pinch of baking soda and baking powder, four teaspoons of coconut oil, and a crapload of cinnamon. (I’m so precise, I know.) Since the loaf pan was occupied with the meatloaf, I used my individual brownie pan, and they came out wonderful. It made six pretty large muffins, which would be perfect for either breakfast or dessert!
So between working and spending too much time at the gym and shopping and cooking and hiking and napping by the pool… this weekend certainly flew by. Sometimes though – like in this case – that’s the sign of a really good weekend, so you won’t hear me complaining. We’ve only got so many summer weekends to enjoy, and I think I’m off to a good start!
Questions:
What did you meal prep for this week?
What did you do this weekend?
Do you like hiking?
Sunday
Posted: May 20, 2013 Filed under: daily, dinners, recipes, sides | Tags: daily, dinners, recipes, sides Leave a comment »Yesterday I was wide awake at 7am, so I figured I’d take advantage of it and get going right away on my day. First up was breakfast, which consisted of eggs, bacon, and a fruit smoothie.
While I was preparing breakfast, I also did some meal prep. I learned (the hard way) last week that making all my meals ahead of time isn’t always the way to go, so this week I only made a few. I guess it is possible for me to get bored with certain foods, as I found out last week, so by making only a few meals at a time, I don’t have to predict what I’ll feel like eating too far out into the future.
For this week, I made a batch of spinach turkey meatballs, which I can turn into a bunch of different meals over the course of the week, or even freeze for later.
I also tried my hand at making cauliflower “rice” by throwing some cauliflower chunks into the food processor.
When I’m ready to eat it, I’ll probably just steam it in the microwave with spices and maybe some other veggies to have as a side dish. I think it’s going to be good!
When all was said and done, I’d made 3-4 meals, plus cooked up a bunch of chicken and meatballs and sliced up a bunch of fruit and veggies, and it all took less than an hour.
After I cleaned up the kitchen and finished my laundry (my other Sunday morning chore), I decided to pot my new plants. I used impatiens, marigolds, and some other little white flower (I’m new to gardening…) in my window box, and I think it came out beautifully. I can’t wait to see the flowers really start to bloom!
I also potted a patio tomato plant, which I’m hoping survives without a whole ton of sun…
And rosemary and basil plants that I can’t wait to start using in my cooking.
My plants didn’t survive very long last year, and I blamed it on having to travel so much, but with that excuse gone now, let’s hope I inherited my dad’s green thumb and can make these babies last!
After I cleaned up a little bit, I decided to spend some time reading on the porch, soaking up a little sun before the clouds rolled in. A good book, a yummy snack, and some warm sun… that’s about all you need!
Even though it clouded up in the afternoon, the weather still made for the perfect day for a bike ride so of course I took advantage of it. I looped around for about 6.5 miles, exploring neighborhoods I’d never seen before, and it the temperature was just right.
When it came time for dinner, I’d had my meal planned out all day. I’m really not a burger-and-fries kind of girl, but for the past couple of days, it’s all I’ve wanted. Maybe it’s the warmer weather that’s making me crave the ultimate summer-time meal? Instead of going out to Five Guys though, I decided to make it at home, where I could control exactly what went into it.
I baked up some homemade French fries in the oven, letting them get extra crispy, and cooked the burger on the stovetop. I set it on a bed of lettuce and tomatoes, and put some sautéed red peppers on top to finish it off.
It sort of just looks like a big mess, but with some ketchup on the side, it was way better (and much healthier) than anything I could’ve gotten at a restaurant!
It’s too bad the rainy weather outside didn’t match the summer meal on my plate, but at least the rain is good for my flowers! ____________________________________________________________________________________
UPDATE:
Thanks to everyone who participated in my Bestowed giveaway last week. The winner is Erin, so she will be receiving a free box from Bestowed!
For those of you who weren’t quite as lucky, don’t forget that the company is also offering all of my readers $5 off their monthly or annual subscriptions when you use the code 5OFFBSTOWED01 at checkout.
Change Your Attitude
Posted: May 1, 2013 Filed under: daily, lifespiration, reading, recipes, sides, snacks, thoughts | Tags: daily, lifespiration, reading, reipes, sides, snacks, thoughts 1 Comment »Over the past couple of days, I’ve been feeling a little blah – really tired, and not motivated to workout at all. I think it’s just because I’ve been go-go-going all the time for the past couple of months, and I need a break, but it still sort of gives you an uneasy feeling when you’re not yourself.
Then, the other night, I came across this picture on Instagram:
I don’t remember this quote from the movie, so I could be taking it totally out of context, but still, I believe it. When you’re faced with something, you can either dwell on it, worry about it, and stress over it (like I usually do), or you can choose to look at it from a positive perspective, tackle it head on, and overcome it.
Sure, me feeling a little less-than-energized certainly isn’t the biggest problem going on in the world right now, but it’s still applicable. I could lay in my bed and cry about how lazy I feel, or I can just embrace it, take some time off, rest, relax, and recover. And that’s what I’m going to do!
Attitude change #1: I did make it to the gym yesterday morning, but my neck was killing me, and I really just wasn’t feeling it (again), so I did some heavy 5×5 shoulder presses and a WOD with 5 rounds of 9 cleans, 6 push presses, and 3 overhead squats at 55lbs and called it a day. Normally, I would’ve beat myself up over the fact that it wasn’t as “intense’” as I would’ve liked, but instead, I gave myself a lot of credit for just getting out of bed and moving around a bit.
Attitude change #2: For breakfast, (after going back and forth with the whole should I?/shouldn’t I? debate a million times) I decided to stop at Dunkin Donuts and get a chocolate chip bagel. Normally, I would abstain because of the inevitable stomach ache, and then the whole feeling-bad-because-I-knew-that-would-happen thing… But you know what? I wanted a bagel. So I got a bagel. And I enjoyed every bite of it.
Attitude change #3: Instead of sitting at my desk during lunch, wishing I was at home/in bed/at the beach/anywhere-but-here, I took my food and my book outside to the picnic table. I brought chicken (with crushed red pepper), and brussels sprouts and broccoli (with sundried-tomato and basil spices and olive oil) that I roasted in the oven, plus carrots, figs, and a dark chocolate square, and it was delicious.
I read a bit, and then my friend joined me while we ate – and it’s seriously amazing what a few minutes to yourself, some delicious, nutritious food, a little bit of sunshine, and good company can do for you!
My afternoon snack was a sliced Fuji apple with a handful of fruit and nut candy crunchies… delicious.
Attitude change #4: I had plans to workout with my friend after work, but when the day ended, all I wanted to do was go home and veg. That initially made me feel like a huge slacker, but instead of feeling bad about it, I decided to enjoy it. Free time doesn’t always come about that easily, so why not take advantage of an evening with nothing to do and just… do nothing?
For dinner, I heated up another serving of meatloaf + mashed cauliflower, this time adding green beans to the mix. To cook them, all I did was put them in a bowl with a little water and microwave them for a few minutes… easy peasy!
The rest of the night was spent on the couch… thoroughly relaxing. I caught up on a couple TV shows, read a little of my book, and got to bed early.
This morning, my alarm went off at the usual time… and I promptly turned it off and went back to bed for two more hours. I woke up the second time feeling like a million bucks – and not guilty at all.
There’s almost nothing you can’t overcome with the right outlook, so if you’re facing challenges right now – whether they’re big or small – I’d encourage you to change your attitude about it too. You will be surprised what just a small shift in perspective can do for you!
Have a great day!
Fruit and Nut Candy Crunchies
Posted: April 30, 2013 Filed under: paleo, recipes, sides, snacks | Tags: paleo, recipes, sides, snacks Leave a comment »Boy, have I got another great recipe for you today!
A few weeks ago, my coworker brought in this cashew crunch he bought at the store, and I loved it. It was made with nuts… seeds… and lots of sugar. But it did give me an idea to try and make my own, and I’m happy to say that the first attempt was a success!
My wonderful dad saw my post about kitchen gadgets and decided to give me his food processor, which is pretty much exactly like the one I was thinking about buying. (Thanks, Dad!) I put it to the test for this recipe, and it worked like a charm.
I think I’ve demonstrated pretty well by now that I’m not good at measuring out recipes, so I apologize, but I really don’t think you could mess this one up. Basically, I just threw a bunch of stuff together, hoped for the best, and luckily, the results were great.
For the base ingredients, you could really use any of your favorite nuts, fruits, or other trail mix ingredients, but I used a handful each of:
- Raw cashews
- Raw almonds
- Raisins
- Dried apricots
I put each into the food processor (one at a time – I’m still new at this) to chop them up, and then threw all of it back in together once more to get it good and mixed. I used the pulse function so that it was chopped, but not pulverized; you still want to be able to distinguish between the different pieces.
Once everything was all chopped and mixed, I transferred it to a bowl and added a few tablespoons of honey. (I really just squirted it straight into the bowl, but “a few tablespoons” sounds more professional, doesn’t it?) Using a rubber spatula, I mixed it all together until it formed sort of a sticky, sweet mass of goodness.
Then, with the oven preheated to 325*F, I sprayed a cookie sheet with cooking spray and spread out the mixture. I didn’t press it down or pack it together, but kind of just let it gently fall into place and then spread it out with my hands a bit. If you wanted more of a granola bar type deal, you could probably form it into a bar shape, pressed more tightly together, but I was going more for a broken up, chunky kind of thing.
I baked the mixture for about 10-15 minutes, until it was just starting to brown on the top and edges. (You don’t want to burn it, but if you undercook it, it will just be a melty, sticky mess.)
I let it cool on the cookie sheet for a while, before scooping it off with a spatula into the tupperware container I’m storing it in. It wasn’t quite as crunchy as the cashew crunch (all the sugar helps give it that crunch), but it was certainly sweet, chewy, and delicious – with a slight crunch from the nuts.
And besides that, it’s made with only real, natural, wholesome ingredients… and you can’t really go wrong with that! Of course, I never seem to make the same recipe twice (mostly, again, because I don’t actually measure things) but my head’s already spinning with ideas for other variations. A dark chocolate variety, perhaps?
What would you put into your version?
Long Overdue
Posted: March 24, 2013 Filed under: cardio, circuits, crossfit, daily, recipes, sides, strength, supersets, workouts | Tags: cardio, circuits, crossfit, daily, recipes, sides, strength, supersets, workouts 3 Comments »Yesterday was a pretty great Saturday all around!
I was up and at ‘em early, starting the day off with a light breakfast. I don’t like to eat too much before working out, but I needed something in my stomach, so this small bowl of Kashi cereal with almond milk and strawberries did the trick.
After I ate, I got over to the Y right away for my workout. I really enjoy going there in the mornings during the week, but on the weekends, it can get crowded really fast. By 10am on Saturdays, there are kids running around all over the place, and it’s difficult to get on a treadmill or find a space to lift. Yesterday I got there earlier than last weekend, and when I arrived, it wasn’t crowded at all. Apparently the trick is to finish up by about 9:30 though, because by the time I was wrapping up, it was packed.
Yesterday’s workout focused mostly on legs, and it was a tough one, but I keep upping my weights, and that feels great! Here’s what it looked like:
- Warm-up: 10 minute walk on treadmill
- Back squats:
- 10 @ 95lbs
- 8 @ 135lbs
- 6 @ 155lbs
- 4 @ 175lbs
- 3 @ 195lbs
- 2 @ 215lbs
- 3 @ 195lbs
- 4 @ 175lbs
- 6 @ 155lbs
- 8 @ 135lbs
- 10 @ 95lbs
- Burnout @ 45lbs (I did 50)
- Workout (5x):
- 25 Jump ropes
- 15 Close-stance front squats @ 45lbs
- 10 Overhead squats @ 45lbs
- 5 Shoulder to overheads @ 45lbs
- Wide stance barbell squats (Plié squats):
- 15 @ 95lbs
- {12 @ 115lbs} x2
- 15 @ 95lbs
- Circuit (4x):
- 12 Cable curls @ 35lbs
- 12 Upright cable rows @ 35lbs
- 12 Cable pushdowns @ 35lbs
- 12 High cable rows @ 35lbs
- 12 hanging knee lifts
- {5 Deadlifts @ 95lbs} x5
- {10 RDLs @ 45lbs} x5
- Leg Presses + Calf Raises on machine:
- Wide: {10 each @ 160lbs} x2
- Middle: {10 each @ 185lbs} x2
- Narrow: {10 each @ 160lbs} x2
- 100 Swiss ball sit-ups
- Cool down: 5 minute walk
After I headed home and showered, I had a quick snack to hold me over for a while. I picked up this crunchy peanut butter while I was traveling last month, and it might be one of the best I’ve ever tried. I haven’t been eating much peanut butter since I introduced almond butter into my life, but it sure is delicious!
Late morning, my mom and cousin arrived at my apartment. Because I’m usually the one who heads home, it’s been quite a while since anyone in my family as been out to visit me at my apartment. (In fact, my cousin had never even see my place in the nine months I’ve lived here!) They came with all kinds of goodies to share, and the first thing I had was this new vitamin water my cousin brought for me to try.
The vitamins are stored in the cap to protect their potency, and once you release them into the water, it flavors it as well. This orange mango flavor was absolutely delicious, and his strawberry flavor was great too. Plus, there are only 20 calories and 2g of sugar per bottle… not bad!
After we chatted for a bit, we headed out to look for something to do. We drove around while I showed them the area a bit, and then spent some time walking around downtown. The plan was to try and get to a sugar shack, with it being Maple Weekend and all, but the one that we stopped at was packed, so we skipped that idea.
Once we got back to my apartment, we broke out the snacks. My mom has been absolutely hooked on guacamole ever since we got back from Mexico, and she makes a delicious homemade variety. Between the three of us, we devoured this spread in no time!
We spent the rest of the afternoon just hanging out, chatting, and lounging around my apartment. We did make one trip to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to get my mom a milk frother, and I ended up leaving with a new lunchbox. They also decided to clean my apartment while I was cooking dinner, and of course I didn’t object! I am very on top of things when it comes to staying neat and organized, but dusting is one thing that always seems to fall off my list of things to do before getting done. Now, my entire apartment is looking extra shiny though, so thanks guys!
For dinner, I tried to think of something healthy that they would both like, and decided on cheeseburgers with homemade French fries. My mom and cousin both try to eat healthy, but they are still a little hesitant to eat a plate full of Brussels sprouts for dinner, so this was the perfect compromise. I got to show them that you can make healthier options at home using real ingredients, while still enjoying your favorite foods!
I had my burger sans bun, with a 1/2 slice of American cheese, lettuce, and tomato, plus fries and ketchup on the side.
Dessert is where things got a little wild yesterday.
Not only did I pick up a bunch of cannolis for us to try, but my mom also brought our favorite chocolate cake plus a huuuuge (2,000 calories, they tell me) cupcake from a new bakery in town. Crumbs Bake Shop has apparently made its way into our mall, and she and my aunt, uncle, and cousins stopped in the other night to check it out.
They got me a chocolate salted caramel cupcake, which had chocolate frosting, a gooey caramel center, and a salted edge, but they were also telling me about all the other flavors they tried while they were there. Apparently my aunt got a chocolate peanut butter cup one that was to die for! I guess I’ll have to make a trip to the mall to check it out next time I’m in town…
(It’s too bad that this picture doesn’t show the true size of this thing, because I’ll tell you: it was giant!)
Overall, it was an absolutely wonderful day spent with two of my favorite people, and I’m so glad they got to come out. Their visit was long overdue, and it was great to get to show them around, catch up, and of course eat lots of great food.
I’ve already tackled laundry, meal prep, and a bit of cleaning this morning, so I’m planning on doing some studying, relaxing a bit, and talking a walk outside later on.
A great Saturday followed by an awesome Sunday? I can’t complain!
Questions:
Have you ever been to a Crumbs Bake Shop? What’s you favorite flavor?
What did you do this weekend?
