Tag Archives: recipe

Gangnam Style

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I made another new-to-me dinner last night, and it was pretty good.

Couscous with veggies and bacon. Pretty self explanatory. But the secret was in the dressing! After you cook the couscous as directed, sautee any veggies you have in the fridge (I used red pep, zucchini, and an onion from the garden), and sizzle up about 5 pieces of bacon, toss them all together in a bowl.

Then- the best part- coat the mixture with dressing made up of:

  • Juice of one lime
  • 3 T olive oil
  • 1 T honey
  • 1 t paprika
  • Dash salt
  • Dash pepper

It was a really nice dish. Only complaint from Tyler was that it was too sweet. He probably would have enjoyed it more if there was a higher ratio of bacon. I would suggest tasting the dressing before coating the dish to make sure it’s to your liking.

******

Yesterday’s workout came in three parts.

Part 1: Strength Circuit from Best Body Bootcamp. For the workout I chose, she had us doing 5 sets of each exercise before moving to the next exercise. Each set was supposed to use higher weights, but since I didn’t have much choice from working out at home, I made sure to do variations for each set to incorporate muscle confusion. For example: with bench presses- first set was with feet flat on the ground; second set had my legs in ‘table top’; third set my legs were fully extended; fourth set I did on the stability ball; fifth (and technically sixth set) I did single arm presses.

I’m not sore today, but I definitely felt the challenge as I progressed.

Part 2: 45 minute walk with Layla. I wore a jacket, but hot dang I was a sweaty mess by the time we got home. I chose a route that was very hilly so I could work those glutes just that much more 🙂

Part 3: Cardio. I buzzed on over to the gym for a 25 minute interval run on the treadmill and 10 min HIIT on the elliptical. Ummm, it’s been over 3 months since I have been on the elliptical. How did that happen?

Today’s workout will be at the Eau Claire YMCA downtown. I am co-teaching HEAT (indoor bootcamp) then going over some kickboxing stuff with the fitness director to see if I am eligible to instruct an upcoming class. Then probably some sweating on the treadmill.

I leave you with my current favorite jam/dance/I will be breaking this out at the retreat this weekend:

If you scroll to 1:27, that might be what I look like while instructing my class this afternoon. #justsaying. Gangnam Style.

Spoiled Dog (and a recipe!)

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So, my dog is spoiled.

I went to the store yesterday specifically to get canned pumpkin for her. Over the last few months, she has been having issues where she screams in pain whenever she sits or lays down. We have brought her to the vet and found it’s because her anal glands have been filling with fluid. Gross, right? Since then, she has had to go to the vet a couple of times to get her glands ’emptied.’ But dude, vet appointments are nasty expensive. We Googled the problem and spoke with the people at our local pet store, and it seems that upping her fiber intake may solve the problem. Insert:

 

Pumpkin!

About 1 tbsp mixed in with her food, and she should be good to go. With her being a picky eater, I was nervous she would eat around the orange stuff, but dang she gobbled it all up!

 

And now she’s even more drooly! Gross.

 

As if the pumpkin wasn’t enough, she also got some of our dinner.

 

Correction: some of my dinner.

Guys- it was a good dinner.

 

Pork Tenderloin with Apples and Onions

Here’s what you’ll need

  • pork tenderloin (duh)
  • 2 granny smith apples, peeled and diced
  • 1 medium onion (I used 2 small ones from our garden!), diced
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • S&P

This is what you do

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees, prepare a baking pan with olive oil (or Pam)
  2. In a large skillet, heat olive oil on medium heat. Place the S&P’d tenderloin in the skillet to brown on all sides (about 5-6 minutes).
  3. Transfer the tenderloin onto the prepared pan and place in the oven until the internal temperature of the pork reaches 165 degrees (about 25 minutes).
  4. While the tenderloin in cooking, add the onions to the same skillet in which the tenderloin was browned. Allow them to get tender. (approx. 3 min)
  5. Add the apples, balsamic vinegar, cinnamon, and sugar. Stir frequently to fully incorporate. Once incorporated, add the water to the skillet.
  6. After a few minutes, once the apples start to tenderize, cover the skillet and turn off the burner.
  7. When tenderloin is done baking, remove from oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
  8. Cut the tenderloin and top with onion/apples mixture. Serve.

Sounds good huh? It is. Even Tyler liked it, and he hates pork (crazy since he LOVESSSSS bacon). And he hates the idea of pairing meat with fruit. Double win for me!

 

As if these yummy eats weren’t enough for the four-footed princess, Tyler came home with even more goodies for her.

 

One of the ingredients is pumpkin! She is going to turn orange soon. I promise to post pictures when it happens.

 

She loved these treats from Wet Noses. She actually played with her first brownie bite last night before inhaling it.

While my dog enjoyed being spoiled yesterday, I unfortunately did not treat myself to such luxuries. I didn’t even work out. And I was SO mad about it. Granted, I do have an exercise-filled weekend coming up, so my body could use the break. But I took out my frustration on Tyler with lots of frowns and moans and groans. Poor guy.

Exercise makes me happy. Even if my body needs the break, I like to indulge in workouts to stay HAPPY. I promised myself that since I was not doing a single thing yesterday, I would have an awesome workout today. And I’m excited for it! I’m going to run at the Y then get in some strength circuits from Best Body Bootcamp. And then I’m going to be HAPPY!

Oh wait, I did do one thing..

 

Fall nails!

Anyone suffer from non-working-out guilt? How do you overcome?

Hair

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I hate hate hate when I don’t workout before a hair appointment. Now I’m gonna have to ruin this prettiness with gym sweat in a bit.

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But first, I gotta clean this damn house.
And mail more sh*t.
And buy food. Human food and dog food. (note to self: don’t forget to get pumpkin purée for Layla- fiber helps the ‘ol anal glands)
And walk the pup.

Besides my super awesome hair job this morning,

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My favorite part of the day has been eating chocolate chip cookies while watching Jessica Simpson -equipped with roughly a half dozen pairs of Spanx under her dress- talk about weight loss. Bwahaha

If you are supremely disappointed with this short post, I suggest you hop on over to Athena’s blog and check out a sweet dinner recipe I wrote about (meat and cheese are ingredients, so click on over!)

Last but not least, Layla says hi.

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Nonchalantly, of course.

Recipe: Chili. Workout: Strength

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If I just want to wish you an average Thursday, do I just say “Thursday?” Instead of ‘Happy Thursday!”

Thursday.

Pardon the headache and grumpy mood.

Today started cheery and bright with the puppy. She got her morning cookie out on the patio. She’s too cute.

‘Mama, just gimme the cooooookie. I sit real nice this this”

“Look, mom. I even give my paw. I’m a good puppy”

And then, I somehow managed to take my favorite picture of the day

I absolutely love that face.

So I took her for a super long walk. She, of course, led the way.

I kid you not, I looked a wreck on that walk. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t even wearing a bra. Disgusting.

You can even see my flyaways in this shadow pic

We ended up walking longer than expected and Layla needed a shade break

Oh right. Before the walk, I did two things

  • I made chili
  • I worked out

The chili was sort of a throw-together meal, so I can’t really give you EXACT amounts, but it went like this

Ingredients

  • 1 large zucchini
  • 1 red pepper
  • 2 medium yellow onions (from our garden!)
  • 1 can of corn
  • 1 can of black beans
  • give or take 10 mini carrots

(chop all that stuff up)

  • 1.5 lbs ground beef

(brown the beef in a skillet)

  • paprika
  • cayenne pepper
  • chili powder
  • onion powder
  • salt
  • pepper
  • parsley
  • basil

(to taste)

  • 1 big ass can of tomato sauce
  • 1 small can tomato paste

Directions

Throw it all in a crock pot. Cook on high for 2 hours, low for 2 hours. EAT.

It was soooooooo good. I can’t wait for leftovers.

On to the workout…

My leg felt a bit better when I woke up this morning, but I didn’t really want to take any chances with high impact stuff in case it made it worse. So I stuck with strength (ps: last night I couldn’t go without doing any kind of workout, so I did 200 situps on the stability ball. phew)

I did 5 ‘sets’ of exercises. Each set I did 2x through. If you need me to further explain moves, let me know!

Set 1

  • weighted lunges (12 each leg)
  • weighted squats (12)
  • weighted split squat (12 each leg)

Set 2

  • Donkey kicks (16 bent knee, 16 straight leg toe taps, 16 crossover knee)
  • Double leg glute squeeze (video shows the exercise on the ball, I do these on the floor)

Set 3

Set 4

  • Concentration curls (8 full, 8 all the way down-halfway up, 8 all the way up-halfway down. each arm)
  • Tricep pulls & extension (8 each)
  • Chest press & Flys on the stability ball (8 each)

Set 5

  • Behind your back pulses (12 count)
  • Overhead press- palms in (12)
  • Lateral extension (12)

Time from this cranky pants to hit the hay.

Night!

Guest Post: Apple, yogurt and coconut muffins

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Hey Nutcaseinpoint readers. 🙂

My name is Jodie and I’m an Aussie expat, nutritional medicine student, avid tea drinker, and the blogger behind Jo’s Jam Jar.

I found Jen’s fun blog a while back and empathized with her move to a new country, as I moved to the U.S. last year with my husband.

I also love reading about Jen’s workouts (especially the strength ones) – and attempting to copy them. I love hiking, biking, swimming, yoga, and basically all things water-based and/or outdoors, but when it comes to gym workouts, I’m kind of clueless, so I love Jen’s point of view on exercise. Now if she could just come to my gym and show me how to use some of the more intimidating equipment, that would be great.

Jen asked me if I was interested in writing a guest post and I thought I would share an easy muffin recipe with you guys. Plus I have an essay I need to finish, so I felt like baking.

This is a simple recipe, using the classic wet and dry system of baking. I like to add a little nutrition to my treats, so these guys are sweetened without processed sugar and have a good dose of essential omega-3 fatty acids, potassium, fiber, manganese, and zinc. One muffin has around 140 calories, if you’re into that sort of thing.

I bet they would be great with some fresh apple chunks and nuts folded in to the batter if you want to fancy them up a bit. Enjoy as a quick breakfast muffin, as an afternoon snack with a cup of tea, or on your next road trip.

Safe travels back to Calgary Jen, and I hope you all have an awesome weekend!

Apple, yogurt and coconut muffins

Ingredients:

Dry:

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

¼ cup milled flaxseed

½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

Pinch of fine sea salt

Wet:

½ cup applesauce

¼ cup coconut oil

6oz tub plain coconut milk yogurt (or your favorite yogurt)

¼ cup maple syrup

¼ cup water

Method:

1.    Preheat oven to 350 F. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients with a wooden spoon.

2.    In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients and whisk together to combine well. Add wet mixture to dry mixture and combine until smooth.

3.    Spoon batter into lined or greased muffin cups, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until skewer inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean and tops of muffins spring back when pressed. Allow to cool for 5 minutes in muffin tray, then transfer to wire cooling for another 5 to 10 minutes.

Share and enjoy!

 

Thanks so much, Jodie! Be sure to check out her blog…as for me, I should be back to regular programming once I’m north of the border. Sad face because I won’t be near my friends and fam; happy face because I’ll be back with Tyler and my puppydawg Layla!