Let's eat Grandpa!

Good grief! It’s been two and a half weeks since I did a IMIM — things have been wicked busy lately and I haven’t had time to blog like I would like to do. I need to set aside some more time — I really love writing and I miss it when I’m too busy.

Let’s see. Here are a couple things I’ve made in the last few weeks:

Broccoli and Cheese Over Easy Omelete, courtesy of Whole Living

I think I’ve been running low on protein (feeling a little lethargic sometimes), so I’m trying to eat some more eggs and meat and other protein-packed food. Normally I’ll just fry up an egg and some toast, but I thought I’d give making an omelete a shot — can’t be that hard, right?

I’m happy to report, it wasn’t hard at all! I sort of followed the directions — I didn’t have a scallion, so I added a little garlic to the broccoli, and that added some nice flavor. I think what really made this recipe was the cheese. I sprinkled it in the pan and didn’t move or anything — just let it get golden brown and then cracked the egg / poured the egg whites over the top. The resulting cheesy crisp on the outside of the omelet made it extra special. I also loved that there was one whole egg in here, cooked over medium. The yolk was so good mixed in there — and it gave me something to mop up with my toast.

Eight out of ten cheesy crusts! 

As I mentioned in my post about Hillary’s visit, I also made scones from Martha Stewart Living.

Apple and Oat Scones with Cinnamon and Nutmeg

I have never made scones from scratch before. I really do love a good scone, especially with Devonshire cream and jam. Scones can really be hit-or-miss — sometimes they can be way too dry if they aren’t made right. So I was a little apprehensive about tackling scones for the first time. I followed Martha’s directions exactly as in the recipe — and the resulting scones were a little lighter than a traditional scone. It was more like a coffee cake scone. Which was definitely not a bad thing — Hillary, Ryan and I all thought they were really tasty. Case in point — I ate four of them on Saturday. When I make them again, I think I’ll add some more cinnamon and nutmeg — the flavor could have been a little bolder. But they were really light and delicious. Oh, and next time I’ll grab some Devonshire cream. I bet that will make them stellar!

Nine out of ten apple chunks! 

Training Update: When I last wrote a training post, I was complaining that I completely lost my workout mojo. Good news! It has returned with a vengeance.

First of all, I started running again. In the last two and a half weeks, I’ve started doing the C25K again. Since I hadn’t completely lost all my running skillz, I sped up the program, running about five times a week, instead of three. Several times, I doubled that day’s workout (just doing it twice in a row). I’m up to Week 5, Day 3 now, and I’m feeling good. I also took some Christmas money and put it toward a new treadmill from Costco. I decided to bite the bullet because I was having a hard time getting out and running in the cold and the fog, and Costco had a killer deal. So I’ve been running on the treadmill, as well as outside on my work lunch breaks. It’s been awesome and I feel great. That 5k on March 3 isn’t looking nearly as scary.

We also had two Tough Mudder trainings since my last post. They were both conditioning — the first had me and Jason (a TM teammate) doing a combined 500 kettlebell swings, 400 cross mountain climbers, 300 push-ups, 200 box jumps, and 100 burpees. We also had two half-mile runs with a 15lb weight. Then, we also helped Chris and Dave complete their set, because they got started late. I was sore for five days.

Last weekend, the training was a circuit of one-minute exercises: monkey bars, TRX squats, rope wrangling (you know, that wavy rope thing they do on the Biggest Loser), squats with a barbell across my shoulders, evil ab roller, box jumps, and a handstand. Then run a half mile. Then do all that twice more! It was quite a workout, and was good practice for Tough Mudder (which as monkey bars, for instance). Good times!

I also tested for my first black tip on my red belt at karate — it was torture. All of my training went dooododleleleeee out of my brain and I couldn’t remember anything. I am not sure how I passed, but I did. And I vowed to get to more classes this cycle, so that wouldn’t happen again at my test in five weeks. I made it once this week (Hillary’s visit interrupted my normal schedule…not that I’m complaining!). Next week I hope to go three times and then I’ll be on track for this cycle!