If you want something that lasts..

Posted on June 14, 2012 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

I decided to post this pancake recipe TONIGHT in case it may come in handy for anyone’s breakfast tomorrow!

Protein Oat Pancakes

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup greek yogurt
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp chia seeds
1/2 tsp salt
dash of milk (I used Coconut Milk to moisten the mixture- you may not need to)

Directions

This is really pretty easy. Mix all the ingredients. Pour desired amount on hot skillet. Flip. Eat.

I topped mine with a drizzle of honey

Not pictured is the dallop of sunflower butter I used every few bites or so. These two cakes left me full for hours. I was able to bust out the workout I posted earlier, and I had energy to spare!

Speaking of energy, I attended the Global Energy Career Expo downtown today to see if there was any chance someone was looking to offer this American a job.

I talked to a few different companies- some of which were too small to bother with LMO’s (Labor Market Opinions, the process for which a foreigner can acquire a job) and others just referred me to their website to upload my resume. Kind of a downer, but at least I tried.

Just an FYI: If you read my posts through an e-mail subscription or Google Reader, click over to my site- it changed! Pretty, huh?!

Another workout..yes, really.

Posted on June 1, 2012 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

…I’m back. Lots of things to share from today, and it’s not even over!

For breakfast this morning, I was having a hankering for pancakes. So…I made them. Ooooh and they were so good you guys.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

3/4 cups oats
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup flour
2 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 egg
4 tbsp butter, melted

Directions

1. Combine the oats and milk. Let set for 5 minutes.

2. Add everything else to oat mixture.

3. Pour batter on skillet until each side is lightly browned.

Makes 4

(I drizzled honey on mine. You should too)

Then, because it’s Friday, I ate my breakfast in bed. Accompanied with my variety of liquids.

Fast forward a few hours (nothing to see here, people) to lunch

Scrambled eggs mixed with veggie marinara, black beans and a side of rye crackers.

And now for today’s workout. Usually, I take Fridays off, but lately I have been having that extra surge of energy, so today I decided to do yet another treadmill interval!

I got myself situated on a treadmill with a view

Then I got a-runnin’

This is how my workout was broken down

0:00-5:00 @ 4mph
5:00-6:00 @ 6mph
6:00-7:00 @ 4mph
7:00-10:00 @ 6mph
10:00-11:00 @ 4mph
11:00-13:00 @ 6mph
13:00-14:00 @ 4mph
14:00-17:00 @ 6mph
17:00-18:00 @ 4mph
18:00-19:00 @ 6mph
19:00-20:00 @ 4mph
20:00-25:00 @ 6mph
25:00-26:00 @ 4mph
26:00-29:00 @ 6mph
29:00-30:00 @ 4mph
30:00-31:00 @ 6mph
31:00-32:00 @ 4mph
32:00-35:00 @ 6mph
35:00-36:00 @ 4mph
36:00-38:00 @ 6mph
38:00-39:00 @ 4mph
39:00-42:00 @ 6mph
42:00-43:00 @ 4mph
43:00-44:00 @ 6mph
44:00-45:00 @ 4mph
45:00-50:00 @ 6mph
50:00-51:00 @ 4mph
51:00-54:00 @ 6mph
54:00-55:00 @ 4mph
55:00-56:00 @ 6mph
56:00-60:00 @ 4mph

PHEW!

Post workout fuel consisted of fresh strawbs, 1/3 banana, OJ and ice blended. HIT.THE.SPOT.

My afternoon was straight up dedicated to Layla. The poor girl had a vet appointment for some follow up blood work. She did awesome with the doctors, but left with a band-aid.

I kind of felt bad, though. I pretended we were going for a walk, when really we just ended up walking to the vet. Terrible move for a dog-mommy to make. (Car was still getting all $049520397235092 of work done).

To make up for my awfulness, we walked to the little pet store in the same shopping center so that Layla could get some well earned treats. This was my first time actually taking Layla into a pet store and I was very skeptical. Especially since this particular store has a huge display of chewies and treats that are dog level- right at the entrance. But she was a star!

She got her treats

And a WAY better harness. (How do I know it’s better, you ask? Well, because she wore it on the walk home and she was a doll. No pulling. It was a-MUH-zing.)

We just picked up my car and I have had chili simmering in the pot since I began writing this post. If you do the math, that means the chili is ready and it’s my time to say goodnight!

Playlist workout

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Ok, I deviated from my intended workout plan…but not by much. I did the walk with the pup, and bootcamp, but my cardio and abwork were scratched.

I actually ended up using a really fun playlist I found on fitbottomedgirls. Below, I have posted the song and what types of exercises to complete throughout the duration of the song:

1. That Ain’t A Scene (It’s an Arms Race)- Fall Out Boy

get some work done on those biceps! I mixed up a variety of bicep curls, hammer curls, curls with an overhead press, chest press on the stability ball and flys

2. My Humps– Black Eyed Peas

Humps: the boot-ay. Backside. Rear End. Squat, Lunge, Donkey kick, Fire Hydrant…squeeze tha tushie!

3. Die In Your Arms– Justin Bieber

Pushups, planks, tricep extensions, tri kickbacks

4. Booty Wurk– T-Pain

Wall Sits, one legged squats, froggers, stability ball split squats

5. Cold Shoulder- Adele

Lateral raises, front raises, overhead presses, lat pulls

6. Legs- ZZ Top

Front, side and back kicks, step ups, plie squat and holds

7. Big Ole Butt- LL Cool J

Hip raises on the stability ball with alternating hip dips, hip raise on the ball with rollouts, one legged wall squats

8. Dirt Off Your Shoulder- Jay Z

Large arms circles with weights, plank up/downs, reverse fly on the stability ball, shoulder rotation while in a bridge position on the ball

9. Hips Don’t Lie- Shakira

The article said dance. So dance, I did. Lots of hopping around and lawnmowers and whatnot.

10. Hands- The Ting Tings

The article said to stretch it out, but I did abs for this song. I did swiss ball roll outs, side crunches with pulses and hold on the ball, plank holds

It was a pretty good workout, and the time flew by…therefore, I highly recommend it!

Dinner tonight was a little hodge-podgey. I combined israeli couscous, marinara sauce and sauteed zucchini. It was pretty darn delicious (I tried 24597 times to upload the pic, but I am on Tyler’s computer and it’s not working. Gah! Problems problems problems. Maybe tomorrow. That’s what I get for trying to post in the living room while sitting on my ball.)

Now, gimme a few secs to gripe about some crap. Ready? Begin. (This is going to be one long run-on sentence to accurately convey my feelings of defeat from the situation)

So I go to Canadian Tire with all the paperwork I got this weekend from Canadian Immigration regarding my car and I needed to get this inspection done but the dude there said not uh you dont have daytime headlights so come back tomorrow and we will install them then do the inspection but in the mean time, go to the registry and get some other form so we can do this other inspection mmk? And I said sure. I go to the registry with the forms and I get to one of the windows and the girl goes lemme see your bill of sale and I was all what I dont have it with me and besides I needed to present it in order to get this form I already have therefore, proceed stupid window lady. But she didnt buy that. So I went home and got ALL my information on my car then went back to the registry office. I had to wait in yet another line before getting to a different girl at a different window and she’s all gimme your title to your car and I was all PHEW I brought that but the girl I literally talked to 5 minutes ago never mentioned that I needed it. And then I got happy so I told this second girl that I would name my first born after her if this was a success. And she gets all noddy and positive looking then she says That’ll be $9.75 and we only accept debit, cash or check. And I immediately think WTF where are the signs that said that? I had American checks which she denied and I had an American debit card which automatically gets put through as credit in Canada so that was a no-go and I had a Canadian visa which is on the list of not acceptables. At this point, consider me upset. I then told her I would no longer name my child after her, and then I proceeded to tell her I was going to kill myself and then burst out in tears at her cubicle. Lucky for me, I get to go back in the early morning hours tomorrow in attempts to get that damn $10 form, then back to Canadian Tire to get a Daytime Light thingamajig (which I was told would cost $200) and then pay for the inspection (I think $75) then take all those inspection forms BACK to the stupid Registry with the stupid cubicles and pay $40957093725 for Registration and get my License.

And how did your day go?

Boozy Bread and a Bootcamp Killer

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

Ok, so I do have some blogworthy things from today. First up: eats.

Breakfast

Bananas Foster Bread with Brandy Icing

…and here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

2 mashed ripe bananas
1 cup packed brown sugar
6 tbsp butter
1/4 cup brandy (or cognac or dark rum or whatever’s leftover in your liquor cabinet)
1/3 cup applesauce
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tbsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 nutmeg or allspice or pumpkin pie spice (really, who cares?)
1/3 cup powdered sugar

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the mashed bananas, 1/2 brown sugar, 5 tbsp butter and 3 tbsp booze in a skillet. Heat until it starts to bubble. Remove from heat and place in a large bowl. Add applesauce, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and eggs. Stir until completely combines

2. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and spice. Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture. Pour the batter in a greased 9×5 loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven, and allow to cool before topping with icing.

3. For the icing, mix one tbsp booze with 1 tbsp butter and powdered sugar.

You’re Welcome.

******

Lunch

Greens with red pepper, pulled pork, bbq sauce and a teeny tiny bit of onion dressing.

Dinner

Scrambled eggs on a whole wheat english muffin and a glass of OJ.

Before today’s bootcamp, I took Layla for a super long walk. We went a route I had never taken before and it was really interesting to see some of the houses and whatnot. And I found a lake! No big deal.

I put together my bootcamp class this morning and I was itching all day to do it. Seriously, it has some pretty exciting stuff in it. So let’s get down to the nitty gritty:

Warm up: We jogged from the YMCA steps to a clear, grassy area. Then we stretched.

Round 1: Partner Burpee Suicides

Ahhhhhh, those are probably the best three words EVER. This is how it works: everyone gets a partner. Partner one gets in a plank position while partner two stands to their left. They do a burpee, hop over partner 1, do a burpee to their right, hop back over and do another burpee…etc. Once that person does 12 burpees, the partners switch. Once both partners have each done 12 burpees, they switch again and each do 9 burpees. Then they each to 6 burpees. Aka: awesomeness.

Round 2: 2 groups

The class is split in two groups. Group one continuously runs the perimeter of the field. Meanwhile, group two complete 2 exercises 2 times. First, they did a squat with alternating front kick for 45 seconds, rest for 15. Repeat. Then, they did one legged squat for 45 seconds, rest 15, switch legs and repeat. This was done after about 4 minutes, then the groups switched.

Round 3: Circuit Runthrough

Everyone started at a line. They got down in plank position, and walked their plank to the first marker (about 30 feet). Once they hit that marker, they got up and did walking lunges to the next marker (about 50 feet). At that marker, they completed 10 jumping jacks and backpedal to the start where they did 10 full bicycle crunches. I had the class do this three times through.

Round 4: Dominos

Everyone got in a circle, facing the middle. The entire group would continuously do walk outs (palms walking out in front of you until you are in a plank position, then walk your hands back in and up to standing). While this is being done, one person would do 3 burpees then run around the circle. When they got back to their place, they would join in the walkouts and the person to their left would do 3 burpees and run around the circle. This is done until each person in the circle has had their turn with 3 burpees and a run. (All the while, the rest of the group is doing walkouts.)

Round 5: AMRAP/EMOM (5 minutes)

AMRAP: As Many Rounds As Possible

EMOM: Every Minute On the Minute

This is how it goes down- Each person goes at their own pace. They strive to complete the following exercises over and over again. (Once you go through it all, start from the beginning and go through it again, and again…)

10 pushups
10 full situps
10 squat jumps
10 mountain climbers (L, R= 1)

Every minute, on the minute, I would yell “MINUTE!” and they had to stop what they were doing and complete 3 full burpees. Once they were done with the burpees, they would continue right where they left off with their AMRAP’s. I did this for 5 minutes.

Round 6: Dominos #2

Again, everyone was in a circle. This time, we were all on the ground doing crunches, while one person completed 3 burpees and ran around the circle, this would continue to the left until each person has had their turn at burpees.

Round 7: Quickfeet

I had the whole class do quickfeet as fast as they could. At random, I would yell “DOWN!” and they would have to drop and do one pushup. I did this for about 2 full minutes.

Class over.

I just got home from class so I could type this up, now I am off to the gym to get my workout in!

Montana Road Trip

Posted on May 27, 2012 by Jen @nutcaseinpoint

So we went to Montana on Friday night. The only reason was so that I could officially export my car from the US and import it into Canada. Really out of the way, but Tyler and I made a trip out of it.

It was about 4 hours of this view before we got to Cut Bank, MT for the night (we were able to export the car on Friday night, but the officer said we could still stay the night in MT since we had already made reservations).

So, Cut Bank is tiny. Like, population 4. Le woof. We managed to find a place called Charlie’s for dinner, where we gorged on pizza and beer. Meal of champions.

I had a Moose Drool

And Tyler had a Land Shark

Pizza was topped with pepperoni, pineapple and mushies. It was pretty good (but not good for you. Whatever, it was Friday and I was in AMERICA!!)

Our hotel was…well, a hotel. Nothing fancy. It was a Motel 8! The swankiest place the town had to offer. I wasn’t too impressed with the mirror headboard.

Yeah, that’s a face of happiness. Or something like that.

The view from our room:

Lots of nothing. BUT, we stopped at a gas station before getting to the hotel and we got a 6 pack of Shock Top and a 6 pack of Blue Moon. This American was in HEAVEN. Oh, how I’ve missed that beer. We enjoyed them while watching European Vacation. (We didn’t drink it all- we got to bring back most of them. Thank you border patrol lady for letting us!)

We woke up Saturday and got right on the road. Once we hit the border, we actually had to go in the office and get my car admitted and go through all the paperwork. It only set us back about 30 minutes, so it was actually quite easy!

Before making it back to Calgary, we made a detour at Buffalo Junction

And paid a visit to the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump.

This site was where Blackfoot Indians would persuade Buffalo herds to stampede over a cliff to their deaths. They would use as much as they could from the Buffalo carcasses to survive until the next jump.

The museum itself was 6 stories and the top floor allowed you to go outside and stand at the site where the Buffalo would jump. It was really quite impressive.

Archeologists found that the jump was used up to 6000 years ago. At that point, the cliff was substantially higher, but as more and more jumps were completed, the remains of the Buffalo and dirt would accumulate at the bottom. Over time, the fall became less fatal, and more Indians had to man the base to kill the injured animals once they had fallen. It was important that no Buffalo escaped, because they believed that the escapee would warn other herds to stay away.

Ironically, once we left Montana and were in Alberta, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant called Montana’s.

And then, of course, Tim Horton’s for a caffeine boost

This barn made me laugh because of it’s large smiley face. So, I thought I’d take a photo to share

Dinner when we got back home were burgers and margaritas. Isn’t that how all road trips are supposed to end? I had the best chef(s).

Action shot

And I can’t forget the Tequila! (We were schooled at the liquor store about tequilas with 100% agave, silver vs. gold, and basically how crappy Sauza and Jose Cuervo were because they only had to make theirs with 51% agave and the other 49% could be made up of whatever sugars they want.