Food, Food. Glorious Food.

Grilled Portabellas with Herbed Goat Cheese

One weekend night we were invited to a lovely but very large pot luck dinner. We thought we would be arriving relatively early so we brought an appetizer- goat cheese rolled in paprika and another rolled in finely chopped fresh dill. Yum. But there were so many people there and SO much to eat. We brought home a sliver of each to enjoy later. I had planned to make portabella burgers so the leftover goat cheese was a perfect topper. Then we decided to forgo the bun altogether and just eat the creamy cheese covered shroom on its own. 

Baked Eggs   

                                                      

                                   

One morning I got ambitious and decided to try something different for breakfast. This was one of our "snow" days so something hot and comforting was in order. Ramekins + butter + fresh garlic + eggs = goodness. 

     Jambalaya, Feijoada and Praline Liqueur                                                             

    

                                                       

 

 The Saturday before Mardi Gras and Valentine's Day Eve saw us entertaining and being entertained by our wonderful friends. I made a bastardized version of an Emeril Legasse Jambalaya and our Brazilian friends brought a traditional black bean dish called Feijoada.

Served with a beautiful pico de gallo and toasted yucca flour over rice, this dish was mouthwatering good!

We also had a Praline Liqueur to celebrate the Nawlins in us all. Who Dat!

Ladies and Gentlemen may I have your attention please. This is like yo momma's Pecan Pie in a glass. Go get you some. Now. Right now.

Snow, Tire Flips and Push Ups

No, snow has nothing to do with the tire flips. Or push ups. Except that the snow got in the way of me doing any said tire flips or push ups for a week.

Last Monday we got hit with a beautiful snow. A rare occurance in these parts. I was happy to see fluffy stuff instead of ice pellets. But, it kept everyone home for a couple of days and made conditions still treacherous in the dark hours of early morn when I usually to to work out. Then it just got darn busy trying to play catch up. Did get a bit of walking in on Monday and Tuesday- walking in the snow FEELS like a workout.

Saturday 13th- 2.5 hours on the Ouachita Trail in heavy hiking boots traversing the mud and snow.


Monday 15th- She's Got Leeeggggs
3 x 15 plyo press 180lb
3 x 15 plyo jumps 125lb
2 x  plyo jumps 15 sec work: 15 rest: 15 work
mountain climbers between sets while other group did jumps

circuit 15 sec work: 10 sec rest for 3 min
wall balls 15lb
plate push 25lb
tire flip
wall sit

Tuesday- She's got ARMS??
3 x 20 wide chair pushups
bench press 1 x 6 85lb, 2 x 5 95lbs, 2 x 4 attempted 100lb but went back to 95.

Circuit x 4 rounds
alternating dumb bell chest press  10 ea arm x 25lb
med ball push up (hands on top of 2 small med balls) to failure (face plant)
walking push ups 10lb DBs
: 30 sec of cable bumpouts 20lb each arm - this is like boxing but pulling weighted cables out - ouch

Wednesday- She doesn't have speed
5 minute core workout to warm up
sprints. omg sprints.
5 light x 8.5-10 mph to fail  maxed out about 40 sec
5 medium x 11-12 mph to fail maxed out about 20 sec
2 heavy 5.5 mph on steep incline this was my favorite maxed out at 30 sec!
Took a 600 m jog outside in the cold to warm down

Thursday- 20 minutes to do as many rounds as possible
5 pullups
10 push ups
15 squats
only did 11 rounds?? It sure felt like more
then 4 x 8 push press, 55lb, 65,65, 75lb

Friday- TIRE FLIPS- Waaahooo tire flips!
50 x 2 hand heavy tire flip
25 x single hand "light" tire flip right arm
25 x single hand "light" tire flip left arm
50 x flip jumps-  flip, jump in, jump out, flip. Oh my stars.

I should have a rest day but I'm hoping the weather holds out long enough to do some trail work tomorrow. Please weather gods, shine down happily upon us!

Good Friends, Bad Influence

Friday night J and I enjoyed a much needed evening out with a couple of good friends. I have been trying to make it over to The Pantry since the fall when Sweet Sarah Smiles would not shut up about the apple strudel. Darn her. We finally made it there. I enjoyed a lovely dunkelweissen at the bar, but I wouldn't have if I had seen the specialty drink menu first. I would have gone for the Pomegranate Gimlet or the Gin & Ginger Press maybe. I knew I would be ordering the pork shoulder for dinner and the strudel for dessert. Thanks Sarah.

 The restaurant has a lovely bar and a lounge area up front. I did appreciate the warm coziness of the wood and deep colors they used to decorate.





Following our most decadent and enjoyable dinner, the 4 of us saddled up and headed to Grumpy's for after dinner conversation. We were having such a great time, we started to ignore the fact that we were supposed to get up very early the next morning. I love when time flies like that. Good Times. Good Times.

The Freezing Fun of February

I know, it wasn't so long ago that I would have had no issue at all with jogging in a 27 degree pre-dawn. Lately I think I'm wimping out on it? I haven't done a distance road run in months. I've never really enjoyed road running as much as other things so if I can substitute something else I will. I should find a way to rediscover some joy in it.

Monday- Overslept after a fun Sunday workout at Pinnacle (2.5 hours on the icy trail!)

Tuesday- 15 sec work : 15 sec rest intervals x 8 (4 minutes each)
resisted run out (bungeed to a sled with 100lb dumbell on it, grab a med ball overhead, run out and put it back)
weighted step ups (45lb bar on shoulders or at chest, step up and down on 24inch step)
wall ball w/ 15lb ball
lying med ball toss (alternate with plank or pushup, no rest)
sprints x 10 mph
I repeated the wall balls and ball toss/ push ups cause I had a few minutes to kill but didn't think I could do any more legs

Wednesday- warm up with Abs.  Workout time limit 20 minutes, as many rounds as possible
10 push ups
max out lat pulldowns 80lb OR pullups ( I did mostly lat pulls, a few pull ups)
15 squats
Finished 13 2/3 rounds!

Thursday- Step Mill 25 minutes followed by 4 x 45sec run @ 8 mph

Friday- The "Angie" workout
100 push ups
100 sit ups
100 squats
100 pull ups or lat pulldowns-  did 40 assisted pullups with band, 60 lat pulldowns 70lb
did 5 x 30 jumping jacks in between lat pulldowns sets to keep heart rate up

Saturday- I had a little too much fun out with friends on Friday. Managed 35 minutes of Wii "hard" workout with resistance band

Sunday- Started on building a new mountain bike trail in the woods. yee haw. 3.5 hours of raking, walking and a little jogging.

Not so New Year's Resolution

Started back at the 5:30 a.m. AIM workouts.

Monday 25th: 10,9,8,7,...1
1 circuit repeated with 10 reps of each exercise, then 9 reps, then 8, etc down to 1 rep trying to increase weight on the way down the reps.  There were so many people at this workout that no matter what, I ended up waiting between sets and I had to leave for the bus at rep 2. It was still so tough.

Deadlifts-  started with 45lb, ended with 75
bench press- started with 65lb, started and ended with 75 after rep7  but did an 85 at rep4
single arm snatch- started with 20lb but moved to 30lb from 7 rep down
push press- 65lb for 10-7, 75lb 6-end
chair push ups to max  avg was 6

Tuesday 26th:  7 rounds of
300 meter sprint outside
20 kettlebell swings 6 x 20lb 1 x 30lb
lat pulldowns to max- I switched each set between 70-80lbs and did 4-11 reps each set


Wednesday 27th:  warm  up with ab workout
15 x 15 sec sprints!  started at 8.5 mph increasing every 2 sprints up to 12.5 mph

Thursday 28th: warm up with abs again
5 rounds  1 min at each station, 1 minute of rest after completing a full round
push press 65lb, last set  was 45lb but doubled the reps
box jumps on 12 inch
wall balls 10lb ball
weighted wall sits 10lb plate overhead for 30 sec, in front of chest  moving like driving a car for last 30 sec
plyo jumps w/ 90lb

Friday 29th: snow day. went sledding some and did a 30 minute resistance band workout



Saturday 30th got NADA but sitting and watching the ice melt. Too slippery to get out much but not enough to sled.

Sunday- 31st Today we're heading to my favorite outdoor gym- Pinnacle Mtn right after lunch!!!

Too Happy?

Stress is not healthy, but stress usually encourages me to work out more. And I tend to make an effort to stay away from certain things that spell doom for me when I'm stressed out. Mainly dessert and alcohol. Lately life  has been too good. Is there such a thing? Despite a few hiccups and a big worry over the realization that we're about to dump a ton of money into renovating our kitchen- life is good. I hate to say it's noticeable, but the last few years have been extremely stressful both at work and at home. Have we found our groove? Am I cursing the happiness by actually saying it out loud? Last night the question was posed to me - "Skinnier but unhappy or Fatter and happier, which do you prefer?"   uh, I would prefer to be able to eat steak, baked potatoes, pasta, cobbler and banana pudding without ever gaining a pound. But since that won't happen...crap, it's back to writing down everything that goes in the mouth. I hate that more than exercise.

Saturday 16th:  Got up and cleaned the garage. Then once I loaded my car with good but no longer needed items, I sent the boys to Goodwill and immediately went upstairs to commandeer the one working TV in the house to do a Wii workout for 40 minutes. Realized that the weather had actually improved after several days of sub 30 Degree days and I should have been outside running hills.

Sunday: should have been a bike ride but the whole house was sick with some sinus crud. Except me. So instead of working out, I took the small one, who was recovering nicely, out to buy a dress for Homecoming Court. That was a workout for my patience. 5 stores. And we still have to get shoes.

Monday: Finally got that bike ride in. Short but Sweet. About an hour worth of mountain biking out at the CARP trails on Camp Robinson. J was still feeling pretty sick so I was afraid the ride would be short. I decided to single speed it. yucca, portapotty, freeway, 2 (10) bridges.
Added 25 minutes of upper body work with a resistance band at home in the p.m.

Fatter but Happier it is then. I'm okay with that. I think.

I'll forget if I don't...

write it down.
Tuesday- 25 minutes on the step mill, 20 min at 65-100 steps/min. 5 burpees followed by 3 x 45 sec "sprints" @ 8 mph. not really a sprint pace for most people :(

Wednesday- 40 minutes of Wii Sports Active. Ouch. I've now broken 2 resistance bands trying to get them to feel like I'm actually doing something. Ugh. Must go get REAL band this weekend. Then got smacked playing balance games on Wii fit. I am the most uncoordinated member of the family by far.

Thursday- 20 minutes on the step mill followed by:
12 pushups to plank 30 sec, 1 slow pushup, plank 15 sec, 1 slow pushup plank 15 sec
4 x 45 sec sprint @ 8 mph
bench press 10 x 45lb, 6 x 65lb, 4 x 75lb