Outdoor Workout and Recipe You.Must.Try.

Phewfsies. Another exhausting day for the books.

Bootcamp was awesome. I mean, anything involving these stairs is pretty great:

There’s 165 steps. I counted.

Our workout today consisted of supersets of a bunch of different exercises. We would do 2 back to back, each for a minute, then take a minute break. 4 sets in total. We did lunges, jump squats, burpees, plie squats, planks, russian twists, pushups and jacks.

Then, we had cones set up and divided the group in two. One group would do a cardio exercise down and back while the other would do a strength. They were:

  • Jump skips/tricep dips
  • grapevine/spiderman planks
  • shuffle/ squat pulse
  • shuffle/bench crunches

Then we did some ab progressions and jogged back down the stairs and back to the gym.

Pretty great workout. Especially outside. Except when you forget to put on sunscreen. Which of course, I forgot. I was planning on laying out in the sun tomorrow (unless it rains) to get rid of my god awful tan lines, but I was asked to attend an afternoon bootcamp (indoors. this calls for another phewfsies) and then a hi-lo/step workshop. So, it looks like it’ll be another active day tomorrow!

Lunch was a plateful of veggies. Gotta hit the daily requirement.

It was really too hot out to eat a bunch of hot veggies, but I’m so turned off by salads right now. Must be the last one I had had a nasty dressing. Who knows. Who cares, really.

Twyla and I took all our 4-legged beasts down to the river for a little walk. Which turned out to be a 2 hour walk. Which means my dogs are killing me. (Not the 4-legged ones, but the ones attached to my legs. Haha, I’m such a comedian) I forgot to take pictures because we were chit-chatting the whole time and Layla was a savage on the leash. I think my left arm is exempt from any bicep/tricep work for at least a month.

LET’S GET TO DINNER….SHALL WE?

That’s not even a question, because I AM going to show you dinner. In fact, Tyler’s still eating it. He just came in -from his video game, no less- and told me it was the best sauce he’s ever had. People, this is huge. Massive, even. Best part? He doesn’t know that it’s a healthified version. Bwahahahaha.

I found this recipe from Stephanie Cooks. I only changed one thing and added two others. Here it is:

Lighter Creamy Garlic Pasta

  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • 3/4 cup 1% milk
  • 1/2 pound angel hair (I used rotini)
  • 1 cup grated parmesan (I used 1/4 cup)
  • 1 tsp dried parsley

I added

  • 6 large mushrooms, sliced and sauteed
  • 2 sausage links, removed from the casings, crumbled and cooked

Directions:

1. Heat the oil, garlic and butter in a large pot. Stir frequently. After 1-2 minutes, add the salt, pepper, chicken stock and milk.

2. Bring the broth to a boil. Add the pasta and allow it to cook according to packaging directions. Then add the cheese, mushrooms and sausage. Remove from heat, stir well. Top with parsley (I forgot!) Serve immediately.

The result:

The broth and all that creamy goodness soak into the pasta as it’s cooking, so there is no need to drain the pot. Oh man, it is good. I highly recommend this meal. I only used 1/4 of the cheese because it’s all I had left, and I think it was just the perfect amount. You be the judge though.

That’s all for now, because my eyelids…..are……slowly………..closing.

 

Today I…

Today, I went for a walk with Layla.

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I ate tons of almond butter

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I took a picture of a random house

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And of my crazy post-workout hair

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I ran up a really steep hill and felt like this

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I got the table runner my mom made us in the mail

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And ate a plate of veggies

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I also officially added eye cream to my daily beauty regime (sigh)
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Now, I’m wearing a Vikings sweatshirt (Tyler is their only fan)

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…And waiting till I have to pee bad enough to get me off this couch and into bed.

Adios!

Walking the River and failed cornbread. Sigh.

Yesterday was just your average Hump Day. (I already recapped for you my workout in the last post)

Breakfast was another smoothie bowl (cranberries, bananas, chocolate protein powder and almond milk)

I went back to the library to return my last read, and ended up browsing for a few minutes. I left with three more books. I’m starting with this one:

I am already about 1/3 through and it’s pretty good. The story is about a girl traveling to Burma to find her father that disappeared 4 years earlier.

I ran a few errands in the morning…some of them are top secret, but ONE I will share with you. I brought a bunch of bottles to the bottle return center and I made a whopping $3.30. That can get me about a quart of gas here. Moving on…..

Lunch was another pile of veggies

Layla and I went down to the river and walked around for about an hour or so. The rain has been on and off for the last week, but I really wanted to get her some fresh air. Girlfran got her groove on in that icy water.

We had gone to Bowmont Park where there are some really great trails, off leash areas, and water access. Layla and I even came across some spots that had grassy areas and picnic benches. Noted for better-weather walks!

I have to keep the dang dog on her leash because she would run into the water and never come out. Or she’d run into the woods. Or somewhere -anywhere- that I couldn’t her back. All the other dogs on just about every walk we take are off leash. You’d think she’d get the hint that maybe she should be a little bit more obedient (Insert giant HA! from me)

While we walked, I Skyped with both my parents to just chit chat and show them some of the area we were walking through. Then, this happened:

Yeah, yeah, sure the picture makes that appear much more peaceful than it really was. All of a sudden that thing came out of nowhere. And it was LOUD. So, I started running with Layla away from the train (Still Skyping, mind you). The camera was shaky and I was screaming and the dog was pulling on the leash and darting around every tree. Then the train was gone. Silent. Like it was never there. You’re welcome Mom and Dad for the 2 minute short-action film.

On the way home, I stopped at the store to pick up some dins and I walked out with these puppies:

Dinner turned out pretty OK as well.

Pork tenderloin, applesauce, roasted beets and cornbread.

Unfortunately, the cornbread turned out to be too salty (I think I may have accidently put 1 tbsp of baking soda instead of 1 tsp. whoops) So that was completely inedible. Bummer) Otherwise, it was a pretty satisfying meal. I had rubbed the tenderloin in basil, s&p, cooked on a skillet for about 1 min each side, then roasted at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Perfection, if I do say so myself.

Quick notes: Survivor was good. I hate Kim with a firey passion, and Revenge was PVR’d (that’s what Canadians call DVR. pff).

This morning’s workout was 45 minutes of at-home kickboxing, followed by 15 minutes of upper body strength (as if kickboxing isn’t an upper body workout. HA!)

I am off to a medical exam (for immigration. EW I want to barf. I hate doctors) then a blood test (again for immigration. Again EW and AGAIN I want to barf.) I know for a fact that I will pass out when they try to stick me with a needle. I am getting nervous just typing this. Insert Heebie Jeebies NOW. ahglishdslkajsflkhdgs WISH ME LUCK!