grocery haul

so, as you may or may not know

bill and i are going strong on the "no eating out" to help us stick to our "diet"

i say diet in quotations, since i'm really just counting calories and not really on a specific "diet"

and i've documented a lot of my meals on here

but i haven't really shown you guys my grocery haul

it's a beautiful thing

in the past month i've shopped solely at trader joes (save for a few produce purchases at kroger, earth fare, and whole foods)

confession - i hate TJ's fresh produce options...i buy a few things like bagged greens and slaw - but when it comes to potatoes, onions, green veggies and fruit - i tend to go elsewhere - their prices are competitive but..i dunno...it doesn't look as fresh?  that being said they were sampling their peaches today and they were the best peaches i've had in a long time.

confession #2 - i love grocery shopping so i tend to pick up several new to me items at each trip (each trip to ANY grocery store)

so i was checking out at TJ's and they seriously have the friendliest people working there - i'm assuming they start each morning with a peace pipe and hashbrowns

and i was joking telling the guy that i play a game to see if i spent more than i did last time i was there

and he played along and asked how much i thought i spent

and i said 105

and he jokingly said if i was right i got my groceries for free

let me tell you

my bill came to 106...exactly.

 

 

i was off by a dollar!  and since i always instill the price is right rule - i win on the account i was under

no free groceries - but in my mind i'm a winner

 

so without further ado - here's what $106 will get you at trader joes

 

(minus the jar of popcorn kernels)

 

whole wheat slim sandwich thins x2

marinara sauce

dry roasted almonds

whipped cream x2

peanut butter filled pretzels

orzo

tortellini

edamame hummus

small greek yogurt (for my skinny broccoli slaw)

large container of european style yogurt

bunch of bananas x2

bagged spinach x2

soy creamer

almond milk

turkey burgers

morning star meatless sausages x2

british muffins

frozen bean burritos

watermelon

smoked turkey breast x2

 

cliff bars x5

frozen mixed berries x2

sweet potato tots

kimchi fried rice

dozen eggs x2

colby jack cheese x2

hashbrowns

dog treats (woodford goes ape shucks for only this kind)

eggplant cutlets

and the much coveted 

channa masala x2

bam!

now we won't go through ALL of this in a week - but much of the sandwich stuff and breakfast items will get low - we were completely out of a few things this time around so i doubled up on a few things

and as i learn what bill likes eating and snacking on more i tend to buy more of those items

i went to earth fare yesterday and picked up about $15 worth of veggies for the week

and i ran in whole foods this morning for some sockeye salmon to grill for tonight ($11 for 12 oz fresh)

so $106 isn't my WHOLE bill, but it's the staples i keep in the house that last about 1.5 weeks

do you play grocery checkout games in you mind?

do you also try to hulk EVERYTHING you bought in the house on one trip?

i was so close this time if it wasn't for that darned watermelon (which i hope is good)

 

30 before 30

so i felt totally inspired by my list of complete/almost complete resolutions

let's not talk about the closet situation

that i decided to set some long (more than a year away) goals

and also because bill and i have been watching a lot of old amazing race seasons

i keep proclaiming that i will learn; bill keeps promising he will teach me - to

1. drive stick - on the rare chance we do make it on the show, it would probably be nice to have me as a backup driver.  but let's be real - i don't trust bill enough with reading a map.  i'm a complete control freak and would be barking in the back of the car the whole time.

so these goals, in no particular order (except for #1...i'm knocking that one out asap) are things i find important to do/experience/live before i hit the milestone year of 30

i will be 28 this december, so i feel like i have ample amounts of time to really sink my teeth into a whole slew of goals

but for naming and titling and cutesy picmonkey makings 

let's round that list to 30

30 before 30 (completed #'s are linked)

so again, number 1...

1. learn to drive stick - for amazing race and other obvious practical reasons
2. travel outside of the country - i've got my eye on madrid and various places in germany
3. install new floors - myself
4. make my own cheese - because i love cheese
5. beat my half marathon time - because i know it's in me
6. ride 50+ miles by bike
7. create a human being
8. sew a skirt
9. read 3 of the 100 greatest novels (that i haven't yet read)
10. see the pacific ocean 
11. learn to weave
12. take a pottery class
13. pickle cucumbers
14. re-learn french (and maybe re-evaluate my travel destinations)
15. write a short story
16. decorate the shelves in the living room
17. go to las vegas
18. visit a national park
19. practice yoga for a month (2 times a week)
20. go to a fancy restaurant
21. have professional pictures taken of bill and i
22. go canoeing (completed 7-14-13)
23. do one pull up - seriously
24. throw a wine and cheese party
25. attend my 10 year reunion - oh my dog...
26. buy only local fresh eggs (completed 8-8-13)
27. attend the trolley hop downtown
28. become a 1 car household
29. take up tennis with bill
30. clean out my closet...maybe in 2.5 years i can accomplish this... 

let's do this!

 

it's the freakin weekend

happy friday!

i've taken a half day and am enjoying the rest of this kombucha out on the patio

can i also just say that i think my muffin top has shrunk, if ever so slightly?

it's a great way to start the weekend - indeed!

weekend plans are fairly minimal right now - except for the fact

i have crushed my 3 week goal of working out and sticking to a meal plan!

oh yeah!

hip hip!

i got this ya'll!

so what does that mean?

well it looks like bill's reward is to see the superman movie (and i guess i get to tag along)

and i get FROYO!  aww yeah.

i hate when people say don't treat yourself with food when you're dieting - you eat that ice cream on your reward day and you enjoy it!

just don't reward yourself daily...

so 3 weeks down but not done

i'll touch on my next goal monday - but it involves my lady crush jillian michaels.

i was pretty absent yesterdy on what i've been stuffing my face with - i was quite exhausted

but i managed to net 1400 calories - which is an improvement

that food looked like:

knock off sausage egg mcmuffin, cliff crunch granola bar, leftover channa masala, peanut butter pretzels, and tortellini with red sauce and parm

i think i'm going to grill some corn tonight - i have a hankerin'

enjoy your weekend!

 

resolutions reviewed

it's a tad bit late

but i thought i should do a mid-year review of my new year's resolutions (which reading this post seems so long ago...)

we were reviewing our "goals" at work yesterday - which i thoughtlessly accomplished 2 of the 5...

so i thought it was appropriate to also evaluate my personal goals for the year

a quick reminder of those:

1.  eliminate artifical sweeteners
2. eat out less/cook more
3. cook with my husband
4. clean out closet
5. save more money
6. run happy
7. knit more

easy peasy right?

1.  oh man, i am so smashing this one out of the park, ya'll!  granted a month or so ago i was still drinking a lone soda every once in awhile - old habits die hard

but since my discovery of liquid stevia - which is from a plant and not artificial - my coffee is now a safe place.  and i haven't touched a soda in 3-4 weeks.  i haven't been as mindful of sweeteners in my foods, but i can't off the top of my head think of anything i've had that uses artificial sweeteners

i'm considering this one a mid-year victory

2.  this goal was touch and go - but as of right now bill and i haven't ate out in close to 3 weeks.  that's pretty impressive for us.  tuesday lunches were ate out, friday dinners, and probably 3 meals on the weekends.  it was bad.  but we've gotten in the routine of taking lunches on hikes/bikes or making sure we are home at meal time.  i'll touch on how this is saving us/not saving us money on #5

3.  we were doing pretty well on this goal up until lent.  and then we ate fish out most friday nights.  right now we're on track, but i don't know if you could consider most of our meals as "cooking" - making rice, sauteing vegetables is hardly what i had in mind - but the fact that we're doing it together - i give it a 75% pass rate.  i definitely would like to amp up our cooking skills and expand our recipe base

4.  hahahaha. no.  fail. 

5.  i have sorta been saving more money, and sorta not.  we've done a few things like utilize our soda stream, green up our use of paper towels, plant a few veggies, and quit our eating out habit has really added to our bottom line!  but with less eating out, i've seen our grocery bill grow - not absurdly, and it's still a lot cheaper than spending 60-80 a week on takeout, but i'm definitely not used to spending $100 a week on groceries.  with that being said - we don't eat a lot of meat, we eat a lot of staples including grains and beans, and the packaged food i do buy comes from trader joes where there aren't weird additives- so i guess it could be more expensive.  we have some big goals coming up, and a few bills will be out of our hair soon enough, so saving should get a lot easier - i think i'm at about a 75% pass rate on this one

6.  i know my original goal talked about running happy.  i think what i really wanted was to feel alive again with working out - and running is my go to exercise.  i've greatly broadened that perspective and have added so many new exercises to my repertoire.  i'm going to give this goal a big ol check mark because i think i've earned it.  next week starts a new goal process for bill and i for our workout routine (our first one was to complete 3 weeks of exercising and eating right before awarding ourselves) and who knows, actual running is probable - with the promise of a pedicure?

7.  hahaha.  clearly these goals were written in the dead of winter - where all i do is knit.  i haven't picked up a pair of needles in months.  i'm ok with that.  i'll pick it up come fall, and hopefully complete a few things for my niece and nephew.  who wants to be surrounded by wool in 90 degree weather?  fair weather knitter - quite literally.  i'd give myself a 50% since this is kind of a seasonal item.

my average?  71% - for mid year i think that's awesome

i still have 6 more months to continue my progress and start on other goals

how would you grade yourself if you were to look at your resolutions?



 

today's eats

so my goal to net 1500 calories today

is kinda not happening - yet

i'm sitting at 947, and while i think my fitness pal overestimated my workouts by about 150 calories

i'm still way under

so right now i'm contemplating spoonfuls of peanut butter OR a smoothie. 

smoothie would be delicious, but peanut butter, also delicious, is so much easier, and clean up is basically licking the spoon and putting it back in the drawer

just kidding

so i apparently burned 748 calories - which was 50 minutes of elliptical as well as some weights

1700 calories consumed today look like:

 

 

top left to right: knock off egg mcmuffin, 2 servings of trader joe's peanut butter filled pretzels, turkey + cheese sammie

bottom left to right: KOMBUCHA! (my first fermented tea experiment), cliff crunch granola bars, and channa masala+jasmine rice

so it's not for lack of trying to eat throughout the day that i'm not netting enough calories

probably should amp up the veggie factor and eat something green - i just haven't been in the mood to eat salads

blah.  

and with that i guess i'll throw a handful of greens in the smoothie i'm about to make

have a goodnight!

 

eat up, buttercup

ya'll

i never thought i would say this

but i have to eat MORE

it's been 2.5 weeks - and i haven't seen much change

even though i refuse to weigh myself - i prefer to go the method of the loose pants test

and i don't own a scale - gasp! - i know...

so, maybe, possibly i have lost and i need to chill because it's not even been a month

but i've really taken this diet and exercise by the horns

and have been putting in the work

and tracking EVERYTHING i eat

even erring on the side of possibly not burning quite as many calories as my fitness pal reports and a few foods might be understated/overstated in the caloric department

i would have thought my pants might be just a tadddd bit roomier by now...

unfortunately - looking at my net calorie intake over the past 2.5 weeks - most days i don't even net 1,000 calories

even if i didn't burn as many calories as the app suggests - i would still be eating less than 1,200 calories a day

eating too few calories only slows your metabolism in the long run and throws your body into starvation 

and for working out like i've been doing, i should really be trying to shoot for 1,500 calories a day - NET - i'm buring anywhere between 300-600 calories a day with exercise, so that means i should be eating a minimum of 1,800 calories a day

it's so hard to get the motivation to eat right and track - and when you finally climb up on that healthy bandwagon and are motivated - it's extremely difficult to tell yourself to eat more and track more calories

i know it sounds ridiculous to think, duh rachel - just eat a bowl of cereal, pack a few trail mix baggies, eat up buttercup!  this is your pass to do so!  you're putting in the cardio and are lifting like a BAWSS!

but it FEELS so counter-intuitive

eat less = weigh less right?

no.

well not always.

my goal for the rest of this week :

i eat roughly 400-450 calories for breakfast, lunch, and dinner

i will bring a ~200 calorie snack to eat mid afternoon (i usually come home and do a brief cardio workout and rotate different strength training exercises)  it'll be a good way to hold me over until i fix dinner

after dinner/before bed i'm going to enjoy a smoothie (200-300 calories)

i've made myself swear off ice cream.  but it's HOT out...and a smoothie is basically the next best thing, right?

right.

also, i may break down and buy a scale

i really don't want to since i feel like i'm having a hard time wrapping my head around eating more

i don't want to become obsessed with weighing in

i'm going to try and wait another 2-3 weeks and then buy one in hopes that i've seen some improvements in the way my clothes fit

the most important thing i keep telling myself is that gain or lose - i'm feeling awesome!

this morning i was thinking about the first couple of days we got the elliptical - i got on to do a 30 minute workout (and seriously, the one we have feels 10X harder than any i remember at the gym - the resistance on ours is tough!) and had to take breaks every 5-10 minutes

if anything i've come pretty far from those moments in a short amount of time - being able to power through tough 30 minute programs!

i'm looking forward to the day i'm back outside running again!



 

birthday bill

it's toasty tuesday

for real - 10 degrees hotter than yesterday

before i get to today's eats...

i want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILL!

annnnd you look much better sans fake hair

bill was so good to ME on HIS birthday

he made my breakfast (same as yesterday - knock off egg mcmuffin)

AND brought me my lunch today

which we ate picnic style

and bless his heart, he also brought me my snack

so when i got home and got another quick elliptical session in -

i made him a yummy dinner 

i still kept it healthy

frozen vegetable fried rice (thanks to trader joes) 160 calories for 1 cup

tofurky italian sausage 280 calories per sausage

and per request

i roasted broccoli + olive oil + garlic + and sprinkled a pit of parm when done

 

who doesn't want to be gassy on their birthday?

delicious!

 

i've been trying to squeeze in little workouts during commercial breaks in the evening

 

and last  night i did squats during 3 commercial breaks - i even held myself accountable - my butt had to touch the ottoman each time

i also did 3 sets (45 seconds each) of situps

it really doesn't feel like a lot at the time - but i sure can feel it today!

every little bit counts

right?

right! try it next time you're mindlessly watching the housewives - but be warned, stairs might be torturous the next day!

 

skinny broccoli slaw

i  love mayonnaise

it's one of those foods that just brings a dish together

i also want nothing more in the summer than a big juicy tomato sammich

with mayo slathered on the bread

well, that's partially true - i also want nothing more than my granny's slaw

slaw, to me, is more mayo than vinegar

those of you who like a vinegar based slaw are dead to me.

not really

but i probably don't want to go to any of your bbq's

because what goes better with a big ol' pulled pork sandwich

than a pile of cole slaw - preferably sandwiched together with the pork.

but i know, you're like rachel. you can't be eating mayo based slaw on your diet

and i want to cry and tell you, i know...it's been hard

there are easily close to 300 calories in a 1 cup serving of my granny's cole slaw

but because i love you

and because i want a nice waistline

i managed to create a recipe - one where you can eat THE WHOLE BAG of slaw - dressing and all for 300 calories.

i don't know how many cups that equals 4? 6?

but i do know i was easily able to eat half of the recipe with dinner the first night i made this

half a bag of slaw...for 150 calories.

AND it tasted like my granny's slaw.

how was i able to cut out all the calories and fat?

a little help from some plain greek yogurt

and also i replaced the use of sugar with liquid stevia

and skinny broccoli slaw was created

 

 

feel free to use cabbage if you prefer, but i really like the crunch and texture of the broccoli mix!

skinny broccoli slaw recipe

ingredients (can be doubled for a cookout) serves 2 hungry dieters or 4-6 smaller portions

broccoli slaw (1 bag)

1/ 2 small red onion, chopped

2T plain greek yogurt

2T mayo (hellman's or duke's - use the full fatty kind, you deserve it)

5-8 drops of liquid stevia (feel free to use your preferred sweeter but know it will alter the calorie content - start with 2t and add more sweetener to taste)

2t white vinegar (apple cider works too)

1/2 t sea salt

chop onion and toss with broccoli slaw 

in separate bowl mix remaining ingredients.  start with exact measurements and taste - the dressing might taste a little sweet, and maybe a little bitter at first, add a few extra shakes of salt until desired result - the salt really helps marry all the flavors.

pour dressing over the broccoli slaw mixture and toss well

store in fridge covered until ready to serve and toss again before serving

optional - add a sprinkle of sunflower seeds for an extra crunch

note - the dressing is really thinned down from traditional mayo based slaw - but has all the same flavor you're used to.  for comparison's sake i believe my granny's slaw calls for 1 cup of mayo compared to 2T -that's 1/8th of the original!

 

summer solstice

(this post is all over the place - i'm clearly antsy for the weekend)

happy first day of summer!!!

i love picmonkey.

so how did i spend my first day of summer?

i woke up at 5:45 and kicked it on the elliptical!

 

30 minutes of hard hills and then 20 minutes of weights - shoulders and chest since i've really been concentrating on arms and legs and butt recently.

 

nothing too difficult - just sets of overhead presses and butterflies using 2 10 lb free weights

 

i think next week i'm going to try and do 1 set with the 20 lb weights

 

oh and we were watching an old season of the amazing race the whole while

 

oh oh- and while i finished up on the weights

 

bill was werkin it.

i've been trying to come home and do at least 20 more minutes on the elliptical everyday (and succeeding) and bill has been running 2-3 miles in the afternoon - i can't wait to be back out on the pavement with him!  it's so weird how sometimes i hate running so much in the act of doing it and after an extended break i really miss it.

moving on to last night's eats

no pictures, but bill already prepared some jasmine rice so i had a cup of rice + 1/2 cup of canned black beans topped with red chili sauce and 1/4 of an avocado - delish!

i also mustered up the energy to prep dinner for tonight!

i threw the ingredients into my stand mixer for pizza dough, let it rise, and then covered it and put it in the fridge for tonight

i always use this recipe from king arthur - and it's a sure fire - i substitute 3 cups of all purpose flour for their ap flour + semolina mixture (i've never even tried semolina but am tempted to pick some up) and i also omit the pizza dough flavor 

 

so all i will have to do when i get home is shape, top, and bake!

 

speaking of eats, i've been wrestling with the idea of going back to a vegetarian or vegan diet.  

 

i hate labeling my eating habits in such a way, because i seriously don't always care if there's fish sauce in my pad thai

 

but one thing i really liked about going vegan (for a year) is it made me pay attention to every single thing i bought (food wise - i still had leather products) and ate

i think vegans get a bad rap for being judgey, and it's less about animal rights (i do love me some animal rights) for me, and more about mass produced food and practices - and weird ingredients.

and also the perk of being more conscious of adding veggies to every meal

so while many of my meals will probably be vegan or vegetarian i'm going to slowly ease myself away from turkey sammies

changing gears again

i need some help with some laptop recommendations

i was kind of looking at the chromebooks - that are cloud based?

anyone use a chromebook?

 

and i don't think i'll spend my money on a macbook...even though i'm kind of lusting after one.

 

i would like to keep the price under $500

 

primary uses are blogging and photo editing

 

help?

 

throwback thursday

this is completely for my bff juli

and it's a rant

it's also a throwback thursday post

way back - like 6 years ago

i was working my first big girl job - interning with the state

and i think juli was reading a lot of books in berea over the summer (i'm kidding/serious - she probably was reading a lot of books, but i think she was working too)

and we had this grand plan to go to this music festival in somerset ky

because old crow medicine show would be there headlining



i want to say wagon wheel had been out for just a short time and we were in love

and we made this semi road trip happen

(i'm going to leave out the part where the night before we decided to live it up in lexington and throw down, and we were completely too hungover to tailgate the actual music festival)

we were pretty pumped - and these are 100% sober faces (and i swear i have clothes on)

and for reference

these are our drinking faces...so....we're natural beauties, clearly. (and dear lord beach short hair is bad on me)

so we were in somerset (there's nothing in somerset)

and we were seeing old crow medicine show for the first time and we were belting out wagon wheel...and every other song

it was fantastic - and if my memory serves me correctly - an older lady came over next to us and started trying to creepily dance with us.  it was everything and more than i could have asked for in that experience.

about a year later we decided we had to recreate this experience, and lucky for us, OCMS would be in knoxville - about a 2 hour drive from berea

i think we drove down after class and work on a friday

and i gave knoxville my best mary tyler moore semi moment

and then we did what do

oh hay! dranks!

and then we went to the tennessee theater and sat down - so excited for the band to come out!  we were fangirling pretty hard - and some kids totally shushed us....like c'mon.  we're at a concert not a recital.

and we were pretty close to the stage - it was awesome.  i wanted them so badly to play "down home girl" but they didn't.  they, of course, played wagon wheel and we belted right along with them about dying free in raleigh and tokin' up with a trucker out of philly

and it was awesome.

fast forward to the summer after graduation and OCMS was playing at the palace in louisville

i put on my best cowboy boots - seriously, i feel like i was doing this before it was cool.  and i'm old. and i really don't think this look is cute anymore, ugh.

and juli and i headed over to the BBC across the street from the palace - where we were at the bar...having a drink - seriously - it's how every story starts...

and there's this loner guy sitting next to us.  juli and i kept kinda sorta waiting for him to talk to us

and he did!  and he was all like, "yeah, are you guys going to the concert?"

and we're all like "omg omg omg omg yeeeeeeah!"

and he's all like "well i'm bff's with ketch (singer) - we totes grew up togther/were neighbors"

and we're all like " oooooh....ahhh" basically we're groupies at this point

and then it's like 30 minutes before the show and this guy is all like "well i'm going behind the venue to go hang out with them - you guys should come back there and say hey"

and juli and i squeal and are totally like sure - see you there in a minute!

and then juli and i are like ok...either we're about to get raped and killed...or maybe we meet the band

we threw back our beers and ran to behind the palace

where we walked between unlit alleys

and held hands

we were scare

and then...and then we kinda see some people

we walk over there - and the guy at the bar waves us over

and then

BAM!  Ketch said "nice boots" and then we had sex.

just kidding, he did say he liked my boots and we all totally had awkward conversation, and then i begged them to play "down home girl"

and when we took our seats - they eventually did play down home girl.

and i was on cloud 9

and they played wagon wheel.

and we belted it all out and just had a great time.

so i mentioned this was a rant - so here goes

and so over the past few years i've seen ocms a couple more times - i've seen a few other bands where some of the ocms band members were playing with them as well

i've also never been to a bar where the cover band didn't play wagon wheel - and every time i made my way on to the stage and belted out my favorite lines - perhaps playing tambourine on occasion.

it's a cult classic song

until darrius mother-rucker-blowfish ruined it for me

ugh.

can i just say i hate that he's taken an already cult classic song that is twangy and wonderful and made himself a CMT country hit song to keep himself relevant

it irks me

and everytime our local stations play it i change the channel.

ugh.

rant. over.

but nothing will ever change the fact that i love love love ocms

i love love love juli

and i'm so glad we've shared so many of ocms moments together.

 like peas and carrots

 

soda water

morning!

is anyone else ridiculously sore from a workout?

no?

i got the newbie aches, i guess.

bill and i were up this morning doing 50 minutes of just dance

but last night i thought it was a good idea to squeeze in a few extra squats

i definitely didn't feel like picking up my feet or doing any high knees

but the workout is over and i've moved on to self medicating with coffee + stevia +vanilla almond milk

weeks ago i prided myself on being coffee free - really for a couple of months (aside from a rare starbucks that may have came into play on the weekend)

but that has changed - i've been slurping down at least 2 cups every morning

what i haven't been ingesting is soda for the past couple of weeks

i've upped my water consumption and have resisted the sweet sweet allure of a diet coke mid afternoon

but ya know, sometimes i just really want something sweet and a little fizzy

my solution?

enter the soda stream - bill still drinks sodas and uses this regularly (soda stream sodas are aspartame and corn syrup free but do contain splenda in the diet mixes or plain sugar in the regular)

i've basically been making sparkling water - no syrup added

and then mixing half sparkling water and half lemonade or juice

this low cal version isn't bad and checks out well on the ingredients list (no artificial sweeteners)

so i get my fizzy bubbles, i get a bit of sweet from the juice - and diluting the juice also helps cut back on sugar + calories

other eats around this part have been typical

turkey sammies + cottage cheese, yogurt, trail mix etc

i may be in a slight rut and need to switch it up for breakfasts and lunches

dinner last night was my recent obsession - and i could eat this every day without it getting old

channa masala from trader joes - bill made rice before i had got home - and the chickpeas heated up in less than 5 minutes and dinner was served.

this stuff is so good.  i had been calculating my rice calories incorrectly (i believe my source was telling me the calories for dried rice and not cooked)

so i was pretty pumped to switch my usually 1/2 cup rice for a full cup!

and the frozen meal says it's two servings - which bill and i have split in the past

but i can totally eat the whole thing in one sitting (360 calories)

i've got some fun eats coming up here soon - including homemade pizza and the broccoli slaw i made last weekend - but i promise this time to write down the recipe and share

 

island tofu recipe + workout

good morning

i've got 2 things on my agenda today

1.  island tofu recipe

and

2.  this morning's workout

let's get the workout over with - i completed 30 minutes of rolling hills on the elliptical and i want to pretend that my pants feel looser in the thighs today.  i mean i think they do, it could be all in my head, but i'll take it.

and i also completed half of bob harper's 20 minute workout(videos of each move included!)

the workout is a circuit you complete 4 times - hopefully next time i can figure out my watch and not waste so much time and be able to do it all the way through

it is TOUGH on your thighs and butt - i did it once last week and was sore for a couple of days

i tried it again today and modified the jump 180 move - i actually didn't even turn at all - i just squatted and jumped straight in the air - still pretty difficult

also completed 3 sets of 45 second bicep curls and dumbbell shoulder press

ok, so i guess this isn't really anything new since i mentioned it before - but i thought it would be nice to include the link today - and also



i love bob harper and just want to sit on a mountain top and do yoga with him and then eat a bowl of oatmeal with him and have him hug me

and then maybe we'd go get a tattoo together, maybe some froyo too

one last look


ok, moving on

so i made up a recipe last night - it's weird calling it a recipe, since it's pretty similar to most things i make

rice + tofu + veggies+ sauce

but this one tasted extra good, and took a few extra steps (like marinating the tofu) so i deemed it "recipe worthy"

a couple of quick notes:

not sure if kroger sells something similar, but i have seen something at world market that looked identical to this

it's basically soy sauce, pineapple juice, garlic, ginger, and sesame seeds

and oh look - i found a homemade version

also, i realize tofu isn't everyone's jam -but i'm pretty sure if i got bill to actually love it and request it - i can get you too, as well

but if you have a couple of chicken breasts on hand - you can marinate those and substitute them

bill even thought tempeh would be good too because of the texture - but i'm not sure how well it will absorb the marinade

and finally

this is sweet red chili sauce - i've been buying it for awhile now and it makes all my rice + tofu dishes come together - this recipe will certainly taste great without it if you don't have it on hand and hate buying one time use ingredients

recipe below

i realize tofu scramble doesn't photograph very well, but i promise this was yummy!

happy hump day!