You Should See Me Dance + DIY Spinning

Posted on February 1, 2012 | 15 Comments

I can’t believe I haven’t debuted this lovely number on the blog yet… Probably because there are so many words that it’s difficult to self-portrait it! ;)

I guess the post title was kind of a spoiler, right?

This is the only item of purple clothing I own, people! Purple is my least favorite color second only to blue. And yes, I’m very childish about it. If something is blue, I just don’t want it. (For the record, navy blue is an exception because I just consider it a neutral). But anyhow, I saw this little gem at Forever 21, and I had to have it!! I like to wear it when the Zumba people are coming in… just to intimidate them.

Let’s get to the real part. I managed to grab the computerized spin bike thinger today! Yay! I was totally gunning for it yesterday but our gym’s version of Angelina Jolie was hogging it. I’ve been trying to stay off my feet a little more (hahaha) since my left foot is still feeling a little wonky. So this is my version of taking it easy.

I Googled for some DIY spin workouts, and I even printed one off. But I left it in the car. With my water bottle. So sad. Now I can run miles & miles, but I can’t be bothered to walk back to the car for a little thing like a water bottle! Sigh.

By the way, if you’re interested, Matt @ Athlete’s Plate has a great post about creating your own Spin class.

Check out who was creeping on the stepmill directly behind me!?! It was hard to get a clear picture because we were both very bouncy. He’s just paying me back for all the times I’ve stalked him!

I ended up semi-following one of the built-in interval programs. I liked that it counted you in to the next thing, but I cheated and stood up more than I should have. I haven’t done spinning in a while, and I don’t want to be too sore! :)

If you’re curious, our gym has a lot of actual spinning classes. Practically every hour in the before/after work time slots. But I don’t like to commit to an hour or more when spinning/rowing/whatever is really secondary to running. And always will be. :)   Plus I like to do my own thing and rock out to my Don Omar Pandora station!

I ran afterwards during Jeopardy!  (seriously none of the 3 college students knew which singer Eddie Cibrian was married to?!) 4.52 in 38. I probably should have stopped sooner because I could “feel” my foot, but I made a poor choice. I hope I don’t pay for it later. I feel like it’s been “so long” since I’ve had a good run.

Today was definitely a clean-out-the-fridge kind of day! Lunch was a baked sweet potato with a side of plain Greek yogurt (for sour cream) and pizza green beans. Kevin did not believe me, but they did taste kind of like pizza topped with a little marinara & mozz. I love green vegetables dipped in marinara sauce when we are having spaghetti or something so I figure I would just do it straight up! If you see speckles everywhere – that’s garlic powder. Got a little garlic happy!

Dinner was equally uninspired with a nice double pasta combo!! Half with No Sugar Added Marinara & half with a nice nonfat Greek yogurt/garlic/basil/mozz sauce I concocted. And the last vegetables in the house!

By the way, I also did my pushup challenge today when I got home from the gym. I’m debating methods for modified pushups? What do you do? I kind of like the idea of just doing”half” pushups. On your toes, but only going halfway down to practice.

Check out these ladies:

They put me to shame, shame, shame!! Could you beat them!?

Fill in the blank “You should see me ___________.”  Haha. I wonder what you’re going to say! Mine should probably say “run” since that’s really the only thing I can do to impress people. And it’s nto even that impressive here in Denver. Haha. I guess play piano, but I’ve lost some of my mad skills living without a piano. :(

Favorite pasta sauce? I need to learn to make some from scratch, right? Preferably from my window box garden. Haha. That’s not going to happen anytime soon. I prefer my sauce to be tangy and truly prefer No Sugar Added varieties.

Do you spin? I’m going to try to work it into my impulsively complex, totally not-scheduled workout routine. Along with pushups, rowing, and kettlebells. Working out is so fun!!

P.S. It’s February!!! Be looking forward to a little lovie series that includes our How We Met story!!

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2 Jar Meals + My Least Favorite Exercise

Posted on January 31, 2012 | 20 Comments

I totally did not meal plan this week. Not at all. I used all my creative cooking up on the in-laws! So this week we’ve had meals inspired by jars seen in the grocery store.

I was originally planning to buy the Korma sauce I had seen the other day, but when I read the labels – this one seemed like a better idea. Spicier & lower in calories. Don’t you love that those 2 things often go together? I’ve noticed that when I order at restaurants (for example: at Firebowl I always order one of the spicer sauces because it’s the lowest calorie content).

We paired the sauce with boiled carrots, celery, cauliflower, and potatoes. Unfortunately, we were impatient and didn’t cook the vegetables long enough so they were pretty crunchy. But the sauce was awesome. I want to try a Vegetable Korma recipe from scratch one day soon!

Jar meal #2:

My wandering grocery store eye spotted this green chile sauce, and I knew it could be the starter for a delicious meal. And only 5 calories a serving!!! You could have the whole jar for less than 100 calories. I should have one for lunch someday! Haha.

Layer of green chile sauce on the bottom. Inside the tortillas: refried beans pureed with fresh spinach & red onion. More sauce and part-skim cheese on top. These were so filling I could barely polish off one! I don’t know what my deal is tonight.

Oh. Check this out. Remember my failed Cookie Friday Hot Cocoa Cookies?

Well. I still had the dough in the fridge. And it was just sitting there making me look like a loser. So I put some in a ramekin, and made kind of a hot cocoa cake!! Awesome, right? Kevin was definitely a fan. He has to have something sweet after dinner.

My Least Favorite Exercise: I can’t even begin to describe to you how much I despise push-ups. They are, hands down, my least favorite exercise. I don’t even like doing them on my knees.

 

But I’ve decided, that I need to get my act together and learn to pump out a few. Maybe not 100 at a time, but a decent amount! I bet you’ve heard of the 100 Pushup Challenge. I did the pre-test the other night. Trust me, I can do ALMOST 1 pushup. I have to do this weird jiggle to get myself back up. Isn’t it so weird that I can’t do pushups? I do a lot of planks. I’ve been exercising almost every day for about 3 years now… It’s time to conquer this once and for all. I’m happy because I’ve convinced Kevin to do it with me. I think he just wants to do it because he knows it’s something he can totally kick my butt at. Running definitely comes more naturally for me so I get a little cheerful annoying with it. ;)

I eventually want to be able to do this tough girl exercise: Bosu Burpee Pushup

Now that looks fun to me!

What’s YOUR least favorite exercise? Anybody with me on the pushups? Want to try the challenge.

What’s your favorite meal from a jar? Nutella doesn’t count.

How are your 2012 Resolutions coming? I ran 216 miles in January! Well on my way to my impulsive goal of 2012 miles for the year!


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Cathy & Jim Take Denver: The In-laws Weekend

Posted on January 30, 2012 | 18 Comments

Happy Monday! Sorry for abandoning you all weekend, but you know, I had to spend quality time with the in-laws! It was fun having more than 2 people to cook for this weekend so, of course, I went all out with a Saturday morning brunch.

 

Parfaits: Vanilla Greek yogurt + blackberries & strawberries + granola.

 

I’ve been working on developing my spiritual gift of remembering family members’ food preferences and remembered that my mother-in-law is a big fan of sweet potato fries. I decided to experiment a little and came up with a nice skillet of fried breakfast sweet potatoes! I added cumin and red onion to make them nice & savory (so Kevin would eat them!). The eggs were baked in a ramekin with basil, halved cherry tomatoes, turkey bacon, and parmesan cheese and served with a toasted English muffin.

For dessert, we had leftovers of the best chocolate cake ever!

I know what you’re thinking! Yes, I even made my in-laws get some exercise in! We hiked about 3.5 miles over in Cherry Creek Park. I was actually kind of the one holding the group up!! My left foot had really been bothering me after my multiple poor decisions in breaking in new shoes! It’s feeling better now, but I almost thought Kevin James was going to have to carry me back.

But they got me back for that intense workout…

We all have our nerdy little hobbies. Kevin and especially his dad are apparently big into Lionel train sets.

We decided a train store would be a good place for single girls to meet NERDY available men with lots of disposable income!

I was sorely disappointed that there were hardly any trains chugging around the store!! I just wanted to see them running and doing cool stuff with smoke.

I consoled myself with some celebrity gossip while I waited for them to check out engines and whatnot. I have no clue. ;)

Our next stop was a lot more exciting! We’d heard about the Tattered Covered bookstore from some friends, and it was something I knew my MIL would enjoy – so it was my perfect chance to check it out! Because otherwise we all know that I’d spend the whole weekend either at home or at the gym!

I was in heaven!! I couldn’t figure out what to look at first!

Paper dolls of great authors caught my eye. I had to send the George Orwell section to my old roommate, Megan. Nobody loves Georgie more than Megan! I was more of a fan of the Jane Austen dolls myself.

I couldn’t resist paging through a book about dog tricks! Never gonna happen with Boyd! But when I get my Vizsla… I can only dream of a dog who can jump rope with me!! I love it!

My in-laws live in Winona – the craziest restaurant there is probably Perkins. So we took them out to our favorite Indian place – India’s Restaurant.

They peer pressured me into ordering something different from my usual Chicken Tikka Masla. I went with Naryal Chicken (chicken cooked in a deliciously flavored coconut sauce). Yum! I loved it, but it was definitely way spicier than anything they’d ever given me there. I usually always order “medium” in spiciness. Kevin and his dad both ordered it “hot” to show what real men they are.

For some reason, I neglected to take any pictures on Sunday. I was kinda beat. But we really enjoyed bringing Kevin’s parents to our Young Marrieds Sunday School, and they obviously didn’t leave town without checking out Yogurtini!

What’s your favorite section to browse in a bookstore? Cookbooks, health, fiction, and children’s books. I found an awesome children’s book called Red Sled. I absolutely loved it! I made Kevin look at all the pictures with me.

How spicy do you like it? Mild, Medium, or Hot. I usually go with medium at a restaurant, but I make things pretty spicy at home. My nose is always running.

Where’s your favorite place to take visitors to your city? We’re really not very good at this yet, but if they are from the Midwest they usually enjoy the restaurant selection. :)

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Cookie Friday Fail + My Chocolate Cake Redemption

Posted on January 27, 2012 | 12 Comments

Today’s workout: 4.25 mile run + 2.10 on the elliptical. I know, it’s weird. I ellipticized. But I have this blister and after a mile of running, I didn’t think I was going to be able to hack it. So I got on the elliptical. Two miles on that thing seemed to numb the pain (and my brain), and I was able to run again!! The elliptical is not my friend, but I guess it helped me out today!

Let me be clear. I did not fail to MAKE cookies — it’s just that, the cookies were a failure.

You see, I really am firm in my belief that “too much of a good thing is a good thing”, and I put way too much marshmallow fluff. I’m sure this is a perfectly good recipe for Hot Cocoa Cookies – if you follow it correctly.

As you can see, that didn’t stop Kevin from scraping them off and eating a few! I decided to give myself a little grace since I was out of flour last night, and I was not in the mood for another flop!

And since I have to do everything I can to prove that I’m good enough for the baby of the family ;) , I decided to think up a super chocolatey recipe for my father-in-law.

And then I remembered Deidre’s famous chocolate cake. She even made it for our wedding! We were emailing it up (like always!), and she sent me the link.

I was really nervous about the bundt cake flipping, but I decided to go for it!

Too Much Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

  • 1 (18.25 ounce) package devil’s food cake mix
  • 1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  2. In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well-greased 12 cup bundt pan.
  3. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate If desired, dust the cake with powdered sugar + I added SPRINKLES!

YUMMY!! Kevin looks so dreamy! :)

Like father like son! ;)

For some reason we felt the need to eat dinner before dessert – lasagna magherit! I made it ahead of time this afternoon (while I was unfortunately not at an interview), and just popped it in the oven when it was time for dinner.  Just the pasta, the ricotta, basil, sauce, and cheese! So simple & delish.

After dinner was game time!

Aren’t they cute in their matching vests?

My husband has quite the game face. Man, I just love him so much!

And now, before bedtime, I have some very important questions for you.

Chocolate or vanilla? I’d probably choose vanilla. Vanilla fro-yo is definitely better than chocolate fro-yo. And everything goes back to fro-yo, right?

Cake or cookies? Cake. It’s more likely to have frosting!

Board games or movie night? Board games!! Unless I want to blog. Than movie night because I can rarely just watch a movie or tv. I have to multi-task!

P.S. That chocolate cake is the BEST! And it was super easy to whip up. You should definitely try it. Word on the street is that there’s also a lower cal version that uses fat free sour cream + sugar-free pudding. I should’ve read the reviews first…

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Denver Date Night: Las Caras + Boyd Hates Me (He Really Does!)

Posted on January 26, 2012 | 15 Comments

Tonight, I let Kevin convince me to go to a restaurant with no website. I was very skeptical about this, but he was persuaded by online reviewers. I was persuaded by the fact that I was so starving that I didn’t want to waste any time Googling more restaurants.

So I said,”Do you have a good feeling about this?” Kevin said,”yes.” So off we went!

Me: “They don’t even have a real sign.”

I’m really not that snobby, but isn’t that a clue that the restaurant changes hands often? Haha.

Luckily, my husband knows about three things that can get me to shut up very quickly. Chips, salsa, & guac! Don’t you always choose Mexican when you are the HUNGRIEST? I love that you get the chips & salsa right away so you don’t starve to death. And because of his great love for me, Kevin James always orders me the guac or avocado even though we are always warned it’s going to be an extra charge. :)   It’s a healthy fat! I needed it before I began consuming fatty fatty fats.

Speaking of fatty fatty fats… come to mami!

Ok. So I loved it. But I’m just going to say that the cheese factor was out of control. I’m very stingy with myself about cheese at home. I sprinkle. I don’t douse. This was doused.

Boy, I was feeling pretty good that I had just finished running 10.03 miles at that point. Probably canceled out at least half that plate.

Look at the cute old people! I had to make haste to take a picture before they left, but you’re in luck – took them a while to get their coats on. :) Also you can see the las caras (faces) on the wall. They’re so clever.

I loved the cozy environment. Totally won my heart. Of course, I had to ask Kevi,”Which would you choose… Las Caras or Hacienda Colorado?” Hacienda Colorado was way fancier and had massive Diet Coke cups, but I think I’d choose Las Caras. I like the small neighborhoody vibe!

Back at home, I was making nice with Boyd. We were getting along sooo well – I think it freaked Kevin out! I really do love that little freak.

And then… all of a sudden he started gagging right in my face! I was about 4 inches away. Kevin raced him outside, and turns out he puked up a sock. Gross. Probably one of my sweaty running socks. He’s completely clueless and doesn’t see a doggy treat if it hits him on the nose… but sweaty socks are a different story.

I think he was trying to get back at me for yesterday….

I was planning to take him the 2 miles out & back route we usually take through the dog park. The 2 miles turned into a 5k which turned into a 5 mile which when we got lost turned into over 7 miles. That might be a personal distance record for the Boykin! He wasn’t really that pleased about it. In fact, I think he dislocated my right shoulder from all the pulling and yanking around I had to do. When we run into the wind, I literally have to drag him behind me at times. I’m sure it’s comical to watch.

We’ve noticed that Boyd will not come to me to go outside any more. Do you think he is hinting about something? If I stand at the door with leash, he ignores me. The second Kevin walks over, he is ready to go. He hates me, guys. I’ll admit I probably overdid it with the 7 miles, but he likes our normal Thursday & Friday half-day-at-work jogs! He loves seeing the other dogs and the bunnies. And I give him food while I’m cooking all the time. Why have I not won his heart yet? I’m used to being the favorite so this really stings. I know he doesn’t like it th at I make him sit & stay, but I think he’s overreacting!

By the way, I had another job opportunity come up today. I randomly applied and they contacted me back within 15 minutes. I then had to return their call, but it went to voicemail. So I spent the whole afternoon agonizing about them calling me back – which they haven’t yet. That’s how I ended up doing a totally uncalled for 10 miler. I was just hanging out at the gym waiting on their phone call. I was literally trying not to run too hard so I wouldn’t be out of breath when I answered the phone!! And guess what Miss Genius did? I ran in my new shoes again! I hadn’t run in them since the race, but I thought I was only going to do a few miles. But I did a stressy 10, and earned myself a nice little blister. No high heels again for the office tomorrow. Boo.

What are you doing this weekend? Guys – my in-laws are visiting for the first time!! I don’t even have meals planned for them. What’s my problem? Maybe if I’d stop with the extra long runs, I’d have time!

Also, the school asked me to come in tomorrow or Monday so we’ll see if they get back to me soon!! They’re looking for a long-term sub starting in February! It could be so cool. I need to chill out about it though.

What do you usually order at a Mexican restaurant? Once I get past chip, salsa, & guac – I’m pretty clueless. I used to always order grilled chimichangas back in the day, but there wasn’t one in sight on this menu. I ended up going with that combo plate – not really sure what all I had on there!  I just picked a number.

How do you think I can win Boyd’s heart? I have to make him like me better than Kevin. Without sacrificing my iron rule. Haha.

 

 

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Skinny Chicken Tikka Masala + Mixing It Up With Rowing

Posted on January 25, 2012 | 20 Comments

I have a feeling I’m never going to regret the day I impulsively ordered some Garam Masala online (because I can’t be bothered to go to a grocery store more than .15 miles away).

I was originally planning to do a slow cooker version of this dish, but it’s kind of one of those where there’s really actually no point of using a slow cooker. And our slow cooker is up on a really high shelf….

I really wanted some Naan with my Indian, but that was nowhere to be found in our neighborhood grocery store either! The nerve. We subbed mini whole wheat pitas which turned out to be awesome because they’re only 80 calories, and they’ll be good for snacks later.

Low Fat Chicken Tikka Masala (via Skinny Taste)

Servings: 4 • Size: 3 oz chicken + sauce • Calories: 190.4 • Fat: 4.5 g • Carb: 12.8 g • Fiber: 2.0 g • Protein: 24.5 g • Sugar: 5.1 Sodium: 99.3 (without salt)

Ingredients:

  • 2 tsp canola oil or you could use butter
  • 1 small onion, minced
  • 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 1/2 cups crushed tomatoes
  • 4 oz fat free yogurt (I used Chobani)
  • 1/2 cup 1% milk
  • 1 tbsp cumin
  • 1 tbsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp turmeric (optional)
  • 1/2 tbsp chili powder
  • salt to taste
  • 16 oz (2 boneless) chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
  • 4 tbsp fresh cilantro (or to taste)

Directions:

Heat oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until golden. Add the crushed ginger, stir for a few minutes then add the garlic and cook another minute. Add cumin, garam masala, turmeric, chili powder, and salt; mix well until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, yogurt and milk. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 10 minutes. Add chicken and simmer for 10 – 15 minutes or until cooked through. Add a generous amount of chopped cilantro and serve with Bamati Rice or Naan.

I’ll admit that every time I took a bit, I was expecting the dish I always order at our favorite Denver Indian restaurant. My rendition was delicious and an awesome weeknight, but no competition for India’s Kitchen! P.S. I added cayenne pepper and even more cumin and garam masla than the recipe calls for. We like it spicy!

Earlier…

Yesterday was double snack kinda afternoon.

Chocolate. A totally weird thing for me to eat in the afternoon. But I chose it over a bag of chips? Probably a good choice, right? But a very surprising choice!

Strawberry Mint Greek yogurt…. every bite tasted like strawberry with mint toothpaste aftertaste. Totally weird, right? Yeah, I won’t be buying that flavor again. But I can’t resist trying then.

This rowing workout in Shape magazine inspired me to mix up my cardio. I read over the article and looked at the pictures of proper form, but I was still totally clueless when I tried it out.

I convinced Kevin to try it with me. At 5:30PM. I always choose to do things that make me look ridiculous during peak gym hours! We couldn’t even get a parking spot it was so busy. We probably had to park a quarter of a mile away! I know it sounds ridiculous to complain about having to walk into a gym, but it was cold. And I always leave the gym dripping with sweat. That is FREEZING in the winter. Haha.

So I didn’t really actually end up completing the workout… I was just trying to figure out what I was doing. I eventually got a good rhythm, but by then it was time to go watch Jeopardy! I just took a picture of my stats – although I have no clue what they mean – so when I got this thing figured out, I can look back and laugh. For now, I’m going to get some tips from my mom (she’s a REAL outdoor rower!) and watch some YouTube videos.

We shared a Junami apple while we prepped for dinner. Any dish including chicken means Kevin has to work too since I hate touching it or having any part of cutting it when it’s raw. Prissy.

Have you tried Junami apples? What’s your favorite apple? This was our first time trying them. Impulse buy. We liked it!! We also like Pink Ladies and this other tart one that I can’t remember the name of.

Have you tried rowing? I rowed outdoors with my mom’s friends once, but this was my first time trying it in the gym. My hands kinda hurt. Am I supposed to wear gloves or something?

 

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