NY Ballet today

Yesterday I did the Strong Knees video again and today did the New York Ballet. It was fairly easy to follow and has some great potential. I don't know how many calories I burned doing it, but I can see how it would tone my muscles even if I don't burn a lot of calories. Interestingly, many of the exercises in Strong Knees are also ones used in the ballet video.

I subscribed to the GAMES txts for Redbox therefore get a free game rental once a month. Twice now I've gotten a Just Dance game. The first one I did by myself and the boys watched. This time though, I had a 'date' night with Jared and made him dance with me. In just a few songs he was hooked! Then Aaron got home and he was hooked too. It was so fun watching them dance! It is good to know that it would be a game they would enjoy and choose to play. I think it helped that One Direction's song What Makes You Beautiful is on it. The boys (especially Aaron) LOVE that song and are familiar with the video. Aaron played the song over and over. He was getting pretty good at it by the time I had to return it. Generously, a friend from high school has offered to send me her game because she doesn't care for the Wii version. So excited about that!! I could spend hours playing it (and I KNOW it burns a lot of calories ;))

I had lunch today with a new friend. I had a grilled chicken avacado sandwich. It was really good, but I probably shouldn't have eaten the fries because based on the closest option available on MFP, I ate over 1000 calories in that meal. ouch. I should walk on the treadmill and burn some more, but once Aaron is home that isn't an option. I have a small offering of calories left for the day. boo.

Homemade Quinoa Bread

Quinoa Bread courtesy of neverhomemaker.com

I love that you can actually see the quinoa!

I have been trying to get back in the habit of making bread as opposed to buying it. This recipe was one of the ones I found while looking for dinner ideas the other night. I happened to buy a bag of quinoa in the last few weeks, made a recipe with it and decided it would be really hard to use it all up. I think I have found the perfect use of it and may even need to buy more!!! (Though we will see how that holds up after everyone reports back from lunch today).

The recipe is really easy and seems to be pretty forgiving. Here is side by side of what I did vs the recipe:

What you'll need . . . 

• 1 cup raw quinoa (we used red quinoa, but any kind will do) (I used white)
• 2 cups of water
• 1/2 cup raw walnuts, chopped (I used 1/4 c chopped pecans but you could probably leave them out)
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast (used instant yeast)
• 3/4 cup water, wrist temperature
• 1/3 cup agave nectar (again, we used Xagave) (1/2 c. honey + 1/8 tsp baking soda)
• 1/4 cup sunflower oil (or canola)
• 2 tablespoons flax meal (didn't have any so left it out)
• 3 tablespoons grainy mustard (ommitted)
• 2 cups unbleached white bread flour (used regular all purpose flour)
• 1 cup whole wheat bread flour (used white whole wheat flour)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

I think she only made one loaf from her dough, but I divided mine into two which made the final product only 93 calories a slice (19 slices in a loaf). I loved the pop of the quinoa when I tested the dough. I like that the quinoa adds most of the grain for the bread so it doesn't require as much flour either. I probably would have used more nuts if I actually had walnuts instead of pecans, and the flax would have really boosted the nutty texture too. It is really good as a toast!! For some reason all last night it was calling to me as a peanut butter sandwich (probably because I've been reading up on making my own nut butters too) so I finally got one for lunch today. Yep, it works!! I think I prefer it as toast with butter and honey though.

Taste test: jam or honey. Jam won this time.

I did find with the honey substitute it browns really quickly in the oven. She says to cover it with foil to continue the baking without the browning but even then it still got really brown on top. I wasn't sure if it was really done or not when I took it out, and there aren't any dough spots in the middle, but it is a really moist bread (which is probably why I prefer it as toast). 

Banana Bread Minute Muffin

Banana Bread Minute Muffin from fitfoodiefind.com

Ingredients:

quick oats
mashed banana
egg white
choc chips or other add-ins

Mix in mug and bake in microwave for 1 min 30 sec.

She claims it tastes like banana bread, but I think the real thing is better. However, for someone who is gluten free it probably will satisfy the craving. I added mini-chocolate chips. In her picture there is more yellow so I am thinking she used the whole egg and not just the white. With the chocolate it is over 200 calories, but it makes for a nice quick snack.

Pumpkin Smoothie

Pumpkin Smoothie from edibleperspective.com

While scouring for dinner recipes last night I ended up on a few different sites that have me in the kitchen experimenting today. This smoothie is one of them. It is pretty good though Aaron didn't care for it. I think it is actually the protein powder he doesn't like because it has an almost bitter taste to it though I try to mask it. The banana adds a nice sweet flavor.  I did not add any spinach though I probably could have and been fine with the taste. After 2 servings (8 oz each)  and a banana minute muffin, I am feeling rather full though I will probably finish it off.

Weigh in Week 4

Last week - 176.4
Today - 176.8

Well, it isn't heading in the right direction but it is close to maintaining. Water weight. Gotta love it.

I have my videos and am excited about them! Yesterday I did Strong Knees. Oh MAN!!! The exercises are so simple, but boy do they work those muscles. The premise is that you have to strengthen the leg muscles that support the knees so there is a segment for each muscle group. Good stuff.

Relief Society put on a healthy workshop last night and had a zumba class, strength training, healthy snacks, and green smoothie segments. More good stuff. I enjoyed the zumba. It was a little tricky to keep up, but it was fun. I liked being able to try some varieties of smoothies too. I can't wait for the email that has all the recipes!! Strength training.. well, I need to do a lot more of that!

Videos

I've been on Amazon looking at exercise videos and decided to see what videos our library carries. Unfortunately they do not have many of the ones that I do like, but I discovered some I am anxious to try. Two of them are meant to strengthen/rehabilitate the knees and two are ballet videos. One of the videos I really like doing before had a lot of ballet moves in it and I loved that! So, I am anxious for them to come in so I can try them out!

Here they are on Amazon:

Strong Knees
Quickfix Rx: Kneehab for Knee Health with Jill Miller
The Ballet Workout Shaping & Toning
New York City Ballet Workout 1 & 2

Easy Hamburger Soup & Herb Quick Bread update

It has been so cold here the last few days I wanted soup for dinner. For some reason a barley soup was calling me. I remembered I had a recipe on the blog so that is what I went with: Easy Hamburger Soup. Man it is so good! Last time I had made it with turkey because that was what I had but wished I'd had beef. This time I had the beef. Even Aaron said he liked the meat (which is saying quite a lot). He probably would have finished the entire thing if we weren't pressed for time. I didn't have celery but it didn't need it. I added a kale leaf too. I probably should have added more though. So delicious!!

This is a great soup for a bread. I went with my Herb Quick Bread but wanted something cheesy too so I just added a cup of cheese to the dry mix. Since I have been more calorie conscious I used 1 3/4 c whole wheat flour and 1 1/4 c all purpose flour instead of 3 c. all purpose flour. And like last time, I subbed Italian seasoning and basil for the caraway seeds.

Today I had them for lunch - even better the next day. I decided I actually prefer crackers to the bread in my soup, but the bread is really good with cream cheese on it! (Thanks to Aaron for discovering that tidbit!)

Homemade Poptarts

Raspberry Pie Tart Pops aka Homemade Poptarts

The recipe calls for a pie sheet, but I decided to try it with a can of crescent rolls. Next time I will use the pie crust sheet. Notice that each 'square' is cut in half. One side will have the jelly and the other will be the top.

Each tart got 1/2 tsp of jelly. We decided to try two different flavors: strawberry and black raspberry. The top left one has already been folded over.

Seal each tart with a fork.

Time to put it in the oven! 

Baked at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

The recipe tells you how to add frosting, but we decided to just do sprinkles. We added butter first so the sprinkles would have something to stick to.

Time for taste testing!

Not quite a thumbs up or thumbs down. The crescent rolls were not the right flavor for a pop tart. It is almost like it is too savory or thick. But the concept works and is a great one. Calorie wise I think the pie sheet would be better too.

Green Onions

I have known for awhile that you can re-grow green onions from their bulb. I finally decided to do it though after going through a lot of bunches in a row. It makes me so happy to see such greenery :)

A tip for doing this yourself:

You can cut all the way to the white and have a short piece to start with, but make sure that it does not get submersed in the water or it will get water logged and rot. This is a huge deal! You can see my little nub there on the bottom right of the jar. It was regrowing but it ended up in the water at one point and then it rotted.

10 days growth - ready for some trimming!

Butternut Squash and Kale Rice dish

Butternut Squash and Kale Rice Dish

based off of The Pioneer Woman's Butternut Squash and Kale Quesadillas

1 cup diced butternut squash

1 cup kale leaves

1 cup cooked rice (brown or white)

chili powder

cinnamon

nutmeg

salt/pepper

olive oil

I sauted the butternut squash until warm and a little tender and added cinn & chili power and set aside. 

Heat olive oil and do the kale. Set aside

Heat rice and add more cinn & nutmeg. Add the squash and kale back in and mix together until warmed through.

For more details about preparing the squash and kale, see the link above for the quesadillas. She does a great job showing how to do it (including a tutorial about cutting up the butternut squash).

Mom's Egg Nog

 

This year was my first Christmas away from home which meant I had to carry on the food traditions without Mom's help. Thankfully, Matthew and I have hosted Christmas breakfast on occasion so I have had Mom's guidance while making the egg nog before. I wasn't sure how it would turn out with just a basic recipe and my memory. I think it turned out really well - and the thickest egg nog ever!! It was so thick! Sometimes I would add milk to my cup to thin it out and it tasted very similar to the store bought which surprised me.

Here is the basic recipe:

Egg nog recipe:
 
18 eggs
1 qt cream
1 cup sugar
nutmeg
 
 
 Separate eggs, beat yolks very well. Add sugar. Add nutmeg and cream (whip  the cream first). Add beaten egg whites. (egg whites must be beaten very well, like you were making meringue)
 
 Make the sure the beaters are cleaned after beating the yolks.

Some tips - Mom adds sugar at every step so that 1 cup sugar isn't really accurate. I beat the yolks until they were almost white. The egg whites should peak like meringue, and the cream was beat really well too. 

More Birds

I made these birds for my brother's family for Christmas. Each one is certainly unique in the way it comes out. I like them though. My aunt made us a stuffed animal every year for Christmas. I could see me getting into that - though she had a lot fewer nieces and nephews than I do to worry about.

Lost it

I decided to just walk on the treadmill with a real good incline. The power went out suddenly and I have no idea how long I'd been walking at that point or what the calories were looking like. I walked an additional 20 minutes and burned 128. I was keeping close eye on it and at the 15 min mark I had burned 100. From that point on I was in a cool down and walked from 2.5 to 2.0 and burned an additional 28. I guessed at about 260.  I know I had walked at least 30 minutes before. Actually, my calories may have been over 300.... but I have no way of knowing for sure :( wah!! I thought about walking up to the 30 minutes mark to see what it would look like but I am tired now!! This was a good workout!!

Zucchini Oven Fries

Zucchini Oven Fries

Turned out really well (man it is nice to have an oven that works). Love the flavor!

Pumpkin Lasagna

Pumpkin Lasagna

Though I found this a little dry, it did have a great flavor and everyone liked it.

Check in

Last week - 176.8
This week - 176.4

Not a big drop, but I have been a lot more liberal with my food intake - eating all the calories I'm given, whereas before I would leave a good amount. Plus I think there is always a bigger drop in the beginning as your body gets shocked into functioning on a higher level and then tapers off as it gets used to the new routine. And then there's the whole issue of womanhood. So, we'll see what happens next week. This is a drop in the bucket compared to the overall picture.

Yesterday I wanted to do a quick workout but up the anti a bit so I did the 4 mph treadmill program (which means 6 minutes of solid 4 mph) on an incline. I was curious whether the treadmill would take the incline into account and apparently it did because the last time I did the program I burned 144 calories and this time I burned 168. It was harder too. The 6 minutes seemed to take forever because there was no 'set' for me to look forward to or break until the end. I learned a long time ago when I was using the treadmill regularly that every once in awhile it is good to do the slow program to work on endurance as opposed to speed.

Today I am supposed to meet a lady in the ward for breakfast at 9:30- one of the plans that got scrapped while we were sick - so I didn't have a lot of time to workout but I knew I needed something to help counter all the calories that will be consumed this morning. My knees have been bothering me too and I know that it really isn't good to run every day. My body needs a break in between. I didn't have time for CardioX so I opted for Chicken Fat (a kid's exercise video) that is basically calisthenics and runs for about 15 minutes total. I finished, jumped in the shower, checked  my messages and have been delayed 30 minutes. So, I hopped on an inclined treadmill and checking in. Love that I can walk and do computer at the same time :)

Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Shake

Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Shake from skinnytaste.com

Made this for breakfast today. She says to add ice, but I actually preferred it without - especially considering it is cold in the house. I loved the thick texture before it got runny from the ice too. Maybe if I hadn't added as much ice or blended it too much it would have been better.

This is a good source of iron and protein too. Win!

Per serving:

Calories 105
Carbs 22
Fat 1
Protein 4
Iron 4
Fiber 3

Weekend Recap

Despite the school holiday, I got up with Matthew at 6:30 and decided to keep up my routine. It is just barely 8 am and I'm on the treamill. LOVE this!

Friday I decided to take the plunge and do CardioX. Man that is such a good workout!! I felt so energized afterward and productive. I didn't want to sit down. I was certainly feeling it by the end of the day and Saturday my back was really sore - probably from the yoga and a few of the other exercises. I would have done it again today but I didn't feel like emptying the bedroom for the floor space. Instead, I opted for a 'quick' run on the treadmill but a stretch of my abilities: I did the 6 mph 20 min program.

This program is nice in that it bumps you up from 4.0 to 6 mph in .5 mph one minute increments and then after the 6.0 you drop to 3.0. whew. I talked myself through the last 30 seconds but I did it. I am amazed that I was able to manage the 6.0 easily when I was doing my 5K on the treadmill. I really was stronger when running outside even if I ran slower. Oh well. I am ok with doing the treadmill at this point. Balance....

I weighed myself on the Wii this morning and am only down .4 pounds = 176.4. I don't think I will see much of a weight drop on Wed but as long as it is still going down, that is progress. Considering  how many days I have eaten over my calories it is not a surprise but man I have been craving the carbs!!

Maxed out!!

Look at that!!! I zeroed out the fact and maxed out the iron!! Considering we had Papa John's for dinner, I think this is an amazing turnout. Half of those 114 calories over were from a honey tea I had before bed as a pseudo experiment on the benefits of honey and cinnamon. The 'tea' is basically a spoonful of honey in hot water with cinnamon sprinkled in. The other half was finishing off the last little bit of Aaron's pizza and Jared's crusts. It was a very satisfying day food wise. I love all the extra calories I get from doing the 5 mph program. I really want to try to start incorporating CardioX. I need the cross training. I also really like walking while I do my computer time though. Balance.

Back in the Saddle!!

Woohoo!!! The house is empty once again! YAY!! In celebration I just completed the 5 mph program on the treadmill and burned 266 calories (my breakfast essentially). Now I am working on lunch by walking at a slower pace while typing. Love this!

I came to a realization recently that has greatly lifted a burden of guilt. Remember how excited the dog would get when it was time to go for a walk? He would bark and yip and jump. Today he did that at the prospect of going down to the basement with me to use the treadmill. I recently realized that he is just happy that he gets to be in the same room with me. As I spiraled in a funk *depression* over the last few months, I tucked myself into my room and didn't come out, cutting myself off from him and all other civilization. I think the dog is happy to have me back in whatever form he can get. And this knowledge puts my heart at ease.