Fatten You Up then Slim You Down

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

I have two things to share with you in this post (don’t worry, Winesday Wednesday will be coming later today). Unfortunately, the two things I have to share contradict one another. The first, is a supremely awesome cookies recipe- one that is NOT healthified AT ALL. The other is a super sweaty treadmill interval workout.

What I’m trying to say is….make these cookies and then run this workout and you’ll be all good. I’m still here, aren’t I? And I did both yesterday…and plan to do both until those cookies are dunzo.

So this cookie recipe is something I actually came up with all on my own. No guideline whatsoever. Perhaps they already exist somewhere in the recipe world, but I haven’t come across it. Here’s how it came about: every time I ask Tyler what he thinks I should bake, his response is always chocolate chip cookies. I am always game for the triple c’s, but I recently spotted a few squares of baker’s chocolate in the cupboard, so I really wanted a way to incorporate those into a cookie recipe.

Insert: Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies turned out better than I imagined, and they DEFINITELY need to be accompanied by a glass of milk. They are super rich. (Some people cross the line at too much chocolate, but to those people I say poo-poo.)

Here’s What You’ll Need:

1/2 c butter
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla
1 c flour
1/3 c cocoa powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/8 t salt
4 squares semi-sweet Baker’s chocolate
1 cup chocolate chips

Here’s What You Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare baking sheets with cooking spray

2. Cream butter, sugars, egg and vanilla.

3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. Add dry mixture to wet mixture and combine.

4. Melt chocolate squares in a double boiler (put a small amount of water in a sauce pan, turn the stove on to heat the water, and place a bowl that will rest comfortably on the sauce pan so that the bottom of the bowl will not touch the water level in the pan. constantly stir chocolate until it is just melted.) Add to the rest of the ingredients and combine. Fold in chocolate chips.

5. Refrigerate dough for about 30 minutes. The cold dough will result in thicker cookies!

6. Scoop balls of dough on cookie pans, and bake for about 13 minutes. After removing from the oven, allow cookies to sit on the pan for a few minutes before moving to a cooling rack. Makes 18 (I make medium-large sized cookies)

So good.

And now I have TWO kitchen helpers. They didn’t want to show their faces in the above picture.

Ok, so after you make these cookies and you eat a bunch of them and you’re all “oh man, now I really need to sweat this chocolate out but I don’t know what I should do about it” then consult the following treadmill interval workout.

This interval workout consists of 5 minutes of running with 5-1 minute sprints. You can do the same speed for 3 rounds of the entire circuit, or you can do the suggested increase in speed for round 2 and round 3. Either way, it’s a pretty sweet and sweaty run.

That’s all I have for you right now, stay tuned for the Winesday Wednesday post!!!!

Catching Up…and a recipe!

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

So let’s do a life catch up. Mainly just stuff that’s happened in the past few days.

-Saturday morning we headed over to the beer/wine supply place to buy a new kit to brew some raspberry ale. To our surprise, the guy gave us quite a few generously poured samples of various wines he had made at his house. They were all fantastic. But he was pouring them fast, so we had to drink faster. Awesome, I got buzzed for free. PS: so excited to try our first home-brewed fruit beer! They’re my fave.

– We then headed over to check out the grand opening of Community Natural Foods in our neighborhood. There, we lucked out with some free sausage samples, so it helped with the wine consumption.

My opinion of the store? Definitely better than the other local natural foods store, but still not even CLOSE to a Whole Foods or TJ’s.

-Saturday night was a long-planned date night. First stop: Saltlik for dinner. I had been to the location in Banff a few times, but we found that the downtown location had a different menu/ambiance/etc. Not as spectacular (only because the downtown spot doesn’t have scalloped potatoes! ha) but the steak was still fantastic.

We finished dinner a bit early, so we walked over to another pub and had a few drinks. Then..

– Cirque De Soleil! The tent in Calgary was for the show Amaluna. Tyler had never been to a Cirque show before, but I have seen some in both California and Vegas. I didn’t care for this show as much, but it was still entertaining!

– We concluded the night with a stupid scary movie that I thankfully didn’t get any nightmares from.

-Sunday, we added a new member to the family- Reggie!

Reggie is a 4.5 year old Beagle (maybe half pocket beagle). He wasn’t ever in a foster home or shelter, but his doggy mama had to find a new home for him since her son was allergic. We totally lucked out because it is super good- potty trained, obedient, friendly, no health problems. His mama even gave us all his beds and toys and leashes and food and treats.

So far, so good. He only barks when people are out front or the doorbell rings (same as Layla). And they have been getting along really well. Lots of quiet play, lots of lounging on the patio, and lots of cuddles and treats. Of course, both dogs now have their designated spots on the bed which just so happen to be immediately on either side of me. I was mummified in the sheets last night!

Only catch is his love of sitting on top of the couch. Still need to figure out the best solution of covering the leather so he doesn’t wear or tear anything.

I told Layla to blink once if he can stay in the house with us. This was her response:

I think that’s a yes.

Ok, now onto a really yummy recipe.

SO..I knew I wanted to bake something this morning, but the challenge was to figure out what exactly I could make that didn’t include chocolate or brown sugar as an ingredient (I was fresh out of both and didn’t couldn’t jet to the store since I was in between 2 phone interviews). I fuddy-duddied around the kitchen for a few minutes before deciding on this delicious concoction:

Peanut Butter Banana Oat Bars (adapted from this recipe)

They’re great because they contain all good ingredients, they’re quick and easy to make, and they keep pretty well (in freezer). Not only that, but the ingredients are substantial, so each bar will satisfy any hunger craving. This really yields about 8 bars, but since it was my initial go with the recipe, I played with the edges before I took any pictures.

Here’s what you’ll need:

2 bananas
1 c oats
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup coconut
3/4 cup chopped nuts (I made a mixture of walnuts, macadamia nuts and cashews and pulsed in the food processor a few times)
1 t vanilla
1/2 t cinnamon
dash of salt

Here’s what you do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper

2. In a bowl, mash bananas. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until fully incorporated.

3. Place mixture in baking dish. Evenly spread and press down.

4. Bake for 25 minutes. Allow dish to fully cool before cutting.

5. For additional convenience as a quick snack, cut squares and individually wrap in plastic wrap.

This recipe is definitely a keeper. I almost always have all the ingredients on hand, plus it’s a satisfying and handy snack!

Question: Have a go-to handy snack? Is it something you make or buy??

Monday Moves #3

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

In case you’ve missed the first two installments:

So this week, I have 3 moves for ya. They are just basic moves with a modification. (Think: intermediate and/or advanced level, depending on your comfortability with each move). Of course, don’t do them if you are not comfortable, and especially don’t do them if you have any injuries. Moving right into it.

NUMERO UNO: Squat Walk with Thigh Squeeze.

-Get a Bender ball or a stuffed animal or one of your dog’s toys (really anything squishy and not too heavy).

-Place whatever squishy item you have between your knees. This will engage your inner thighs to do some work to keep that sucker in place (wow, that just sounds dirty).

-Lower into a squat position. Make sure to keep your knees aligned with your toes- do not let your knees be IN FRONT of your toes! Butt down; chest up.

– Staying in the nice low squat position, start walking. Not only are you working your glutes and squats with the squat, but you’re getting those thighs toned since they have to work on holding whatever you’ve got between your knees.

–Modifications: Squat walk without holding an object between your knees. OR, rather than walk, you can pulse in place.

NUMERO DOS: Stability Ball Tricep Dip

-Place a stability ball on the floor against a wall. Remember to have your fingers facing the same direction you are. How far you extend your legs in front of you depends on your ability level. The farther out, the harder it is.

-Once you’ve gained balance, do your regular ‘ol tricep dip. Elbows go back, rather than bow out so that you can really target those triceps.

-If you get comfortable with the balance on the ball, you can try holding the dip (not only is that tricep work, but core work as well!) And yes, you’ll feel it because I had to hold that position for the flash on the camera to finally go off and it was tough!

NUMERO TRES: Stability Ball Push-Up

-Same idea as the stability ball tricep dip. It’s just an advanced modification on a basic move, plus it encourages more core strength for balance.

-Ball on the floor against the wall. Make sure you get good hand placement on the ball (far enough apart) so that you keep the ball put.

-Do a pushup. Now, you will definitely do way less of these than you would your normal pushup because of the extra work required. Another option is to simply hold the plank position.

Well, there ya have it guys. 3 moves to get your week going. Let me know if there’s anything you’d like to see for next week’s edition!

Exercise and Eats: Week of 4/22

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Hey guys! We have been up to a lot of stuff over in this household over the past few days, which I am sure I will recap later. First, I think it’s important to get a meal and exercise plan going for the week.

To recap last week for eats:

Monday: Broccoli Beef with Brown Rice

Tuesday: Turkey Meatballs with Spinach Ravioli (originally planned for spaghetti squash, but the grocery store told me they didn’t carry it)

Wednesday: Pulled Chicken and Veggie Quesadillas

Thursday: Buffalo Turkey Burgers with Slaw

Friday: Homemade Pizza

On tap for this week:

Monday: Omelettes
Tuesday: Pulled Pork Tacos
Wednesday: Chicken Salad
Thursday: Hamburg Gravy
Friday: Steak and Veggie Kabobs

Moving on.. EXERCISE. I was pretty on par with with I originally planned for last week’s workouts. I actually really pushed myself on the treadmill for my runs, and got my furthest distances and quicker paces! (I don’t consistently run, I do intervals).

Here’s what happened last week:

Sun, 4/14: At home workout (CBC kix and some TRX strength) DONE

Mon, 4/15: Best Body Bootcamp Strength Workout A, 30 min run, 10 min spin DONE

Tues, 4/16: 60 min run DONE

Wed, 4/17: BBB Strength Workout B, 30 min spin, ~~10 min row~~ DONE

Thurs, 4/18: 40 min run, 10 min row, ~~abs~~ 10 min spin DONE

Fri, 4/19: BBB Strength Workout C, 20 min spin, ~~20 min run~~ 10 min row DONE

Sat, 4/20: OFF

On tap for this week:

Sun, 4/21: CBC kix and strength circuits at home

Mon, 4/22: Best Body Bootcamp Strength Workout A, 30 min run, 10 min row

Tues, 4/23: 60 min run

Wed, 4/24: BBB Strength Workout B, 40 min spin, 10 min row

Thurs, 4/25: 40 min run, 20 min spin

Fri, 4/26: BBB Strength Workout C, 20-20-20 (spin, row, run)

Should be another good week for the books!!

Your Turn: Any exciting recent eats you’ve made at home? Favorite workout?? I wanna know!

Stuff on the Internets

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

More things I came across that I found worth sharing:

1. Lower fat chocolate made with fruit juice. Hmmm. No, I think I’ll stick to the regular stuff, thanks. I always see ads for chocolates that are lower in fat or sweets that are “under 100 calories” but I NEVER get them. Mostly because that means the product is pumped with way more artificial stuff which is actually bad for you in the long run. Fruit juice? A good idea, but I like my chocolate tasting like chocolate and chocolate chocolate chocolate. The end. Chocolate.

2. I have had a thing of heavy cream in my fridge for a bit (insert quick trip to the fridge to check its expiration) Just kidding, I had to throw it out. But do you ever find you have a bit of heavy cream leftover when you only need a teensy bit of it for a recipe? Well these cranberry and walnut scones can help you out with that. Scones are great because they are dense and filling and you can pretty much toss whatever combo of add-ins into the recipe. Cranberries are fantastic for scones- my mom ALWAYS makes them. And I ALWAYS eat (all of) them.

3. Ok, so I have to admit I bookmarked this one a few days ago, but never read it until just now when I meant to include it in this post. And OMG HAHAHAHAHAhahahahahAHHAHAHAHAHAHahahahHAHAHA I am laughing so hard from it that I am mad for depriving myself the last few days of knowing about how hilarious it is. YOU HAVE TO READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE AND YOU HAVE TO PLAY THE SONG INCLUDED TOWARDS THE END. OMG I CAN’T STOP LAUGHING. Hey, you probably want to know what the article is about, right? A ladies’ guide to a one night stand. And I’ll tell you what, this would have been useful knowledge to have pre-Tyler. Most likely college. AHAHAHHAHA yes. Just yes.

4. Chocolate chip cookie bars stuffed with peanut butter. Why have I not thought of this? Oh wait, I did stuff them with Nutella once. But that was only once because I found Nutella straight out of the jar to be much easier and just as delicious.

5. I really want to make this jewelry board. Then I got to thinking: I have like no jewelry. So, I have change my order of priorities to 1.) get jewelry, then 2.) make jewelry board.

6. This is another one of those talking dog videos. Made me laugh/feel good to watch. Especially while I am on the phone with the bank and the registry office to coordinate things. Like, let’s talk about how the registry told me I need proof of residency, among other things, to get an Alberta license (i.e. a bank statement) and the bank tells me I need 2 picture IDs (i.e. an Alberta license) to open an account. See how that works there? Both sides are telling me I need the others. Aka: that doesn’t work. It also means that they’re uneducated on the process because I guarantee when I go to said bank/registry office, I will be able to get both. Right, so yeah…watch that talking dog video.

7. This article will clue you in on overexercising. Did you know that FAT GAIN is one of them? I honestly think that’s why I was 15+/- lbs heavier when I was living in Boston because I was taking/teaching so many group ex classes—even though I was eating healthy! Crazy thought.

Your Turn: What have you found of interest on the internet lately?

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