Happy Monday, Happy February

Last week got away from me, things were busier than usual, Himself came down with a cold, I was tired and blogging fell by the wayside.

There was some good stuff too – dinner and a movie with friends on Wednesday night being one of those. We saw The Lovely Bones – have you read it? I did, a few (probably 4) years ago now. I remember thinking that it would be a hard book to turn into a movie, I just couldn’t picture it. There were definitely some changes – there always are – but I thought they did a pretty good job capturing the essence. Plus, I always enjoy Mark Wahlberg. Heh.

I guess it’s that time, to review January’s workouts. I actually just realized it when I sat down to start this post.

January’s workouts were designed byLindsey at Lean Bodies Health & Fitness. It was definitely a challenging schedule (and some challenging workouts) for me, but I only ended up missing one workout which I can live with.

Here’s the recap:

Jan 26: Supersets + Steady State Cardio + Abs[45 mins]
Jan 25: Cardio Intervals[35 mins]
Jan 24: Hyperbolic RT + Steady State Cardio + Abs[60 min]
Jan 21: Hyperbolic RT + Steady State Cardio + Abs
Jan 20: Cardio Intervals[45 mins]
Jan 19: Supersets + Steady State Cardio + Abs
Jan 18: Cardio Intervals[45 mins]
Jan 17: Hyperbolic RT + Abs + Barefoot Cardio[60 mins]
Jan 16: Fat Burning Yoga DVD[40 mins]
Jan 14: Hyperbolic RT + Abs + Fat Burning Pilates DVD[60mins]
Jan 13: Cardio Intervals[45 mins]
Jan 12: Supersets + Steady State Cardio + Abs
Jan 11: Cardio Intervals[30 mins]
Jan 10: Rounds for 20 min + Steady State Cardio + Abs[60 mins]
Jan 09: Fusion Flow DVD[45 mins]
Jan 08: Timed Circuit + Steady State Cardio + Abs[60 mins]
Jan 07: Cardio Intervals + Abs[50 minutes]
Jan 06: Supersets + Steady State Cardio[60 mins]
Jan 05: Cardio Intervals[45 mins]
Jan 04: Hyperbolic RT + Steady State Cardio + Abs[50 mins]

I also seem to be down about 2 lbs, which may not be a huge difference but I’ll take it. Here’s hoping for another 2 lbs this month!

As I mentioned not too long ago, I decided to sign up for 3 more months with Lindsey. Today I started February’s plan and to tell the truth, I’m a little scared. It would seem that Lindsey has decided that she was too easy on me last month, and she’s making up for it now. Or she’s trying to kill me. Haven’t sussed that one out yet.

One Legged Burpees? If she thinks I can do those, she is way over-estimating my abilities. I’ve been known to end up collapsed on the floor, laughing hysterically, while trying to do regular burpees. But we shall see how it goes.

I did photo all of my meals/snacks today, but I have other things that I want to get to (piano!) so I’m going to cut this short and just leave you with two.

Saturday night I was on my own, so I tried a new recipe in the Slow Cooker for Refried Bean Soup. I got a little carried away with adding real Chipotle Peppers and some Chipotle Chili Powder (which I find is  hotter than regular Chili Powder), so it came out quite spicy.

I served it up with a quesadilla and it made quite a nice comfort food type meal.

The weather has turned downright cold and wintery which is a bit of a shock to the system after it was so mild last week. The office was quite cold today. I had a container of this soup for my lunch and I was quite thankful for all that Chipotle heat – it was the first time I was actually warm all day!

Yesterday we put our Slow Cooker to work again, and made Italian Chicken and Potatoes. We had leftovers tonight, with a very simple salad of cucumber & grape tomatoes. We also had a loaf of Focaccia bread to finish up. I topped my chicken & potatoes with a little parmesan, since we have some in the fridge.

That’s it for me tonight! I’ll be back tomorrow, if I survive the new Cardio Intervals that I’ve been assigned. Wish me luck!

Shoe-Stravaganza

For those of you who enjoy shoes as much as I do, I have some more shoe pictures to share.

But first, since I know not everyone shares my love of shoes, some food pictures and recipe links…

We tried a new slow cooker recipe tonight - White Bean and Apple Chili from A Year of Slow Cooking. To make it Husband-friendly, I replaced one can of beans with 2 boneless chicken breasts.

Other changes:

- I think I used slightly less chicken broth; probably 2 1/2 cups instead of 3.

- I added some chipotle chilis for a little extra heat and some smokey flavor.

- Shortly before serving I mixed together a bit of corn starch & flour then added it to the chili in the slow cooker to thicken it up.

- I didn’t add cheese, because I thought Husband would prefer it without, but I did sprinkle a bit on top of mine.

To to with it, I made this cornbread recipe. For the corn bread, I halved the recipe, switched the amounts for the flour and cornmeal (so more cornmeal, less flour) and used melted unsalted butter instead of oil. Just because I prefer butter.

Both came out really well. Husband had 3 pieces of the cornbread, so I think that was the favorite tonight.

On to the Shoes!

I mentioned on Monday that I made a return trip to the shoe sale. On the previous Friday I had bought the one pair of boots, but there were some other items that I was considering…

The pair that I had bought on the Friday were a no brainer. As I said, I’d been admiring them since the fall, they fit and felt very comfy. The other reason I didn’t hesitate is that they are Naots.

I have a pair of Naots that must be at least 5 years old, if not older. They have been worn regularly, they are still comfy and still in good shape. Here are the new and the old, side by side:

I still love the first pair, even though I’ve had them for a long time, so the new pair of Naots seemed like a safe bet.

I initially decided to stick with that one pair as my purchase in an effort to avoid impulse purchases. I regretted it almost right away, and almost went back the next day, but the sales lady had said that if I came back on Monday there might be an even better deal going on (at the time everything was 50% off). So I made myself wait until Monday.

On Monday when I went back, the sale was buy 1 item (at 50% off) and get the second item for 75% off. And both of the items I wanted were still there.

First – Anne Klein pumps.

I hesitated the first day because there was also a pair of black patent pumps that were quite nice and seemed maybe more practical. But I couldn’t decide so I left them both. After leaving the store, these Anne Kleins were the ones I regretted leaving behind.

Second – Green boots!

I can’t help it. I love them.

But, while I was there grabbing the two pairs of shoes that I had been obsessing about all weekend, I also saw a couple of other things…

Honestly, I just tried these Clarks boots on for the fun of it. They remind me of the granny boots I had…well…quite a while back now. Late 80’s? Early 90’s? But surprisingly they looked really cute with my jeans and were very comfy. What’s a girl to do at a shoe sale? Ahem.

The purse is larger than what I would usually buy – I’m only a small person after all and I don’t think my purse should be bigger than me. But I quite liked this. It’s got a sort of luggage look to it and I think it would be good for travelling.

So that was my haul. No shoe shopping for me for a good long while now, I think I’ve hit my quota…Well, at least until summer anyway.

Yes, I am fully aware that I have a shoe problem. I just don’t really want to do anything about it. :)

Fitness and Felines and Food! Oh My!

A little something for everyone. There’s even a new pair of shoes to be seen…

Fitness…

First up, a quick recap of Week 2 of my online fitness coaching experience. I mentioned a bit of this during the week, but I thought it would be good to have it all in one spot.

Sunday – Started off week two with the first Hyperbolic Resistance workout of the week, which was a circuit that I was supposed to complete as many times as I could in 20 minutes. By the time I was finished, my legs were shaky. I still managed to get in 40 minutes of Steady State Cardio (starting off very slowly until I was sure my legs would continue to hold me up) and Abs.

Monday – Intervals. This was meant to be a 45 minute workout, but I knew as soon as I started that I was in trouble. Ankles, shins, calves, all were complaining. I tried, but I ended up cutting it short, getting in 5/10 intervals and a total of 30 minutes of cardio.

Tuesday – Supersets Weight Workout plus Abs, plus a very cautious 30 minutes of Steady State Cardio.

Wednesday – intervals again. I stuck to walking and managed to do the full 45 minutes. It felt ok.

Thursday – Hyperbolic Resistance workout #2 – Another circuit, this time 5 sets as fast as I could. Then Abs. Then, for my cardio workout of the day I decided to take a break from the treadmill and did my Fat Burning Pilates DVD.

Friday – Rest.

Saturday – Yoga.

…And Felines (and shoes)…

I sat on the couch with my breakfast and coffee this morning, all covered up in my comfy, fuzzy blanket. Frank came and curled up next to my feet for a snooze. When I got up, Frank stayed put, and stretched right out.

I was doing some cleaning and tidying and came out of the kitchen to see this, which for some reason made me laugh.

I don’t know, just something about that face, those eyes peeking out from the comfy blanket…

Sorta looks like he’s posing for a photo shoot, doesn’t he?

Not to be outdone, Zappa got in on the action when I was trying to take a picture of my new boots – which I know some of you will appreciate.

I’d been eyeing these since the fall, but they were a little pricey so I just kept admiring from afar…Then on Friday I happened to walk by the shoe store and see sale racks…And there they were, just waiting to come home with me.

Not the best picture, but they are all shiny and pretty and very comfy. Happy JavaChick.

…And did someone say food? Oh My!

I didn’t photo all my food today – I was going to but then I forgot. However, what I did get was good.

First, breakfast…The fruit trays were calling my name when I went to the grocery store yesterday and I thought it would be a nice treat. Along with the fruit, my favorite Liberte Mediterranee Moka Yogurt.

I also had coffee, but I was all excited by my pretty plate of fruit and snapped a picture before I thought to pour coffee.

Then for supper, I did a Slow Cooker Experiment – I wanted to adapt a favorite meal that my Mom used to make (ok, she probably still makes it, I just don’t live there anymore so I don’t get to eat it. Boo.) .

I told Husband I was experimenting for supper and asked if he was scared. He said no. The man is no fun.

But he was also right.

I give you: Slow Cooker Italian Chicken & Potatoes.

It was very good. And we made enough to have leftovers tomorrow! Happy JavaChick! Again!

…And Finally…

I just thought these apples looked pretty.

That’s all folks…Hope you had a great weekend!

Don’t Wanna Exercise No Mo’!

Seriously. I am just not feeling the workout joy lately. Not sure what’s up. Winter I guess. But I am doing my best to stick with it at least to the end of the week. Next week I may have to change things up a bit or something.

That being said….I missed my workout today.

Backing up to this morning…

I got up and threw dinner in the Slow Cooker and made myself some Multi-Grain Cereal. I put it in a container that I could take to go in case I didn’t have time, but I did end up having time to eat at home.

Multi-Grain cereal made with Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze and a drizzle of Maple Syrup. And of course coffee.

When I got to work the office was freezing. I was piling on the layers and I was still cold. It wasn’t just me for a change – everyone was wearing their jackets at their desk. Turns out there was a problem with the heat in the building and it was going to take a while to get it fixed. So, I packed up my laptop and came home. I couldn’t handle sitting in an office with no heat all day.

I do like being able to make lunch in my own kitchen. I decided on an English Muffin with an egg, cheddar and dill pickle. I had some cucumber on the side.

For dessert I had a Super-Charge Me cookie.

A little later I decided to make some tea. I was thinking Genmaicha, but when I started rooting through the tea cupboard I remembered the Chai Green Tea I had bought but not tried yet and I decided to give that a try.

It smelled very much like the PC Darjeeling Chai that we buy all the time. Husband and I both like it a lot.

I added some Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze to my tea. It was quite good.

I may have had another cookie too.

The down side of working at home is that I seem to want to eat all day. Later in the afternoon I popped a Mini bag of microwave popcorn. That did the trick.

I went out to get the mail and look what I found!

A lovely, thick, gardening catalog for 2010. Never too early to start thinking about the next garden.

You’d think that being at home would make it easier to get in my workout for the day. However, 5:00 came and went and I was still at the computer. Finally Husband came out and wanted to eat supper.

Dinner was from the Slow Cooker. I had planned to make Tex-Mex Taco Soup, but I didn’t have a 14 oz can of diced tomatoes, I only had a 28 oz can. I was going to use half the can and save the rest, but then I figured I might as well use the whole can, skip the broth and make chili instead. So that’s what I did, and I added some extra spices. I had planned to add a can of tomato paste to thicken it up, but somehow that never happened. So we ended up with sort of a cross between Chili & Soup. Didn’t matter it still tasted good.

Husband had picked up another loaf of focaccia bread, so we had that along with it.

Wednesday down. Two more days to vacation.

Chicken and Lentils, Take 2

I have a confession to make. Last weekend when I made the Super-Charge Me Cookies, I sort of had in mind that I would eat them for breakfast. Then it turned out that I was enjoying them so much in the evening with a cup of tea that I was starting and ending my day with cookies and I wasn’t sure that was such a good idea – even if they are healthy cookies.

So, when I made another batch this weekend, I had every intention to save the cookies for dessert and eat real breakfast this week.

Then this morning we had to leave the house early because Husband was taking it in for maintenance and to have the winter tires put on. I was trying to get dinner in the slow cooker. I was rushing around. I didn’t even take the time to put on makeup. So breakfast?

I’m sure you can guess…

For lunch I had some cucumber and Bean Balls with Marinara Sauce. Also a couple of chocolates for dessert.

I had a dentist appointment this afternoon, so I didn’t get around to having a snack and I was fine without one.

Husband picked me up around 5 pm and I came home to dinner in the slow cooker. I threw in a load of laundry, then hit the basement for a Circuit Workout. I have to tell you – I did not have a lot of energy to throw into it today; it was a bit half-hearted. I blame the dentist appointment; the stress just wears me right out.

Dinner was Chicken & Lentils again, but I changed it up a bit from last week.

I had chopped up an onion and a stalk of celery the night before. This morning I rinsed a cup of green lentils & put them in the slow cooker with the onion and celery. Instead of measuring out spices I went with 3 tablespoons of Madras Curry Paste:

I added 1 can of chicken broth + equal amount of water,  and a 14 oz can of diced tomatoes and stirred it all around. Two chicken breasts went in on top of everything else. On went the lid, the slow cooker was turned on to low, and off we went.

By the end of the day the chicken was ready to fall apart and was easily shredded and mixed in with everything else.

Husband had been to the store a picked up a fresh loaf of focaccia bread. A little broccoli slaw on the side and we had dinner.

We both thought this was better than what we made last week. It had more flavor and the tomatoes gave it a hint of sweetness. It was very tasty and I look forward to the leftovers tomorrow night.

Dessert – Twice Baked Shortbread and Peppermint Tea.

And that’s Monday – 4 more days to vacation!

New Recipe #2 – A Success!

Just a Tuesday…Nothing to exciting to report. Breakfast was a repeat.

Lunch was Bean Balls with Brown Rice. Yum!

Snack was supposed to be an apple…

Ahem.

Plus there may have been a few handfuls of chocolate covered almonds. No self control at all today; the chocolate just kept finding it’s way into my mouth.

After work I did intervals on the treadmill. I was feeling less than energetic when I started, so I decided to do shorter intervals of running, but I also kept the walking intervals shorter. It felt like I was running more, but at the same time it felt easier. I did 30 minutes of intervals and a 10 minute walk to cool down.

Dinner – Indian Spiced Lentils & Chicken – was in the slow cooker. I was planning to steam some broccoli, but while I was on the treadmill I thought maybe I could throw it in the slow cooker and avoid another dirty pot.

So, when I got off the treadmill, I prepped the broccoli and threw it in the slow cooker. I went and had a shower, then came out to dinner. The broccoli was still a little crisp, I can live with that.

We also finished off the last of the Basmati Rice from Sunday night.

And dessert with mint tea:

Dinner was based on this recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking. I used two chicken breasts, but halved everything else in the recipe (actually I used a little less that 3 cups of chicken broth and no water). I thought that 2 cups of lentils would be a lot and if I wanted Husband to be happy, there would need to be a decent ratio of chicken to lentils. I added some fresh ginger and garam masala to the mix, and when we got home from work I added some light coconut milk (what was leftover from the can I opened on Sunday night).

Then, as I mentioned, I added the broccoli and served with Basmati Rice. I really enjoyed this dish. Husband had two servings and said it was “Spectacularly good.” How’s that for a review?

Husband has had quite the week – I fed him fish and lentils and he liked both. It might be time to feed him pizza or something; just so this doesn’t get too weird.  :)

Weekend Highlights

 

Saturday was a rainy day, but I’m not complaining about that – at least it is still warm enough to rain instead of snow. The Fabulous Felines and I spent some quality time on the couch.

 

Yes, I am underneath all that fur.

Normally I try to get out and get my weekend shopping done earlier rather than later, but yesterday I was in the mood to poke around the house.

As soon as I got home and we put the groceries away, we started making dinner. Thai Shrimp Soup from Eat Shrink & Be Merry, and Shrimp Wontons from Superstore.

 

Sunday the weather was cooler, but the sun was shining which was nice.

While making the soup on Saturday, I noticed my ginger was sprouting. Of course, I want to try planting it to see if I can grow a ginger plant.

I just can’t help myself – that would be why I have a lemon tree and a key lime tree growing in pots in my kitchen; I wanted to know if I could grow them from seeds.

First thing this morning, I got Curried Cauliflower Soup going in the slow cooker.

I found a new low sodium vegetable broth at the store yesterday which was nice. I try to watch the sodium because of Husband’s blood pressure, but most of the ‘low sodium’ broths are not really all that low; I was pretty impressed with this one.

The kitties each got a short walk – despite the sun it was a little chilly out.

I spent the afternoon doing my usual rushing around the house, trying to get things done. Among other things, I baked another Pound Cake (recipe here) and polished my kitchen table…

We never eat at the table except when we have company, so it tends to serve as a collecting spot where we drip things (mail, etc) when we walk through the kitchen. Eventually it gets on my nerves enough that I have to clean it off and give it a good polish.

At the end of the table you can see Husband’s bag of Rockets from Halloween, he’s still working away at eating them.

I did laundry, and cleaned the bathroom and swept. I was going to vacuum, but it needed to be emptied and the filter needed to be cleaned (which husband did for me). It’s a bag-less vacuum, so Husband rinsed the filter and canister and the filter needs 24 hours to dry.

It was nice to have dinner ready and waiting in the slow cooker. We made sandwiches to go along with our soup – I had grilled cheese, Husband had Roast Beef & Ham. And of course Pound Cake for dessert.