good food, good company

The long weekend was a restful one (i.e., the leg workout I did on Saturday absolutely destroyed me to the point where every muscle was screaming for mercy each time I moved for the next couple of days). The highlight was definitely the relaxing Sunday evening dinner with my family and godparents.  Catching up over good wine and delicious food is hard to beat as far as I'm concerned. Considering D was out of town, the alternative would have been a lonely dinner of pb&j or something, haha j/k.

I was in charge of dessert, so I made this recipe for the 2nd time and it was a huge hit. I'd highly recommend it for any citrus fans out there.

icing my masterpiece

the lemonade layer cake in all its glory

amazing dinner of roast pork, veggies and butternut squash risotto

my mom doesn't even like cake, but she can't get enough of this one :) it's very dense and moist

blueberry bran muffins

I made this recipe over the weekend because D had a hankering for simple bran muffins. This one was a winner and satisfied his craving.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups wheat bran
  
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 cup 0% plain yogurt
• 1 egg
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup frozen blueberries, rinsed

Makes: 12 muffins

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees and prepare your muffin tin. Mix your milk and wheat bran in a small bowl and set aside. In another bowl, combine yogurt, egg, brown sugar and vanilla, then add to with bran mixture.

Mix your dry ingredients, then add to your wet mixture until everything is just combined (without over-stirring). Gently fold in the blueberries.

Spoon the batter evenly into your muffin cups, then bake for 20 minutes.

When they're done, let them cool for ten minutes.

Lastly, remove them from the pan and let them cool completely on a wire rack. The more time you give them to cool, the easier they'll be to peel from the cups, but it's just so hard to resist sampling one right away!

tuna melts and random workouts

It's a good thing I haven't been training for anything since the tc10k, 'cause I'm pretty sure if I was, my schedule would have been thrown out the window this past week. Work has been nuts, which always = not being able to sneak in a lunch/workout break until closer to the end of the day, feeling frazzled and out of sorts and just wanting to burn off some tension.

leg workout supplies

This week's fitness regime I basically took day by day (which I don't usually do--I like to always have a plan--but sometimes life just gets in the way): I rode my bike to work the two days it didn't rain, completed an upper body strength workout, ab workout, leg workout (see below) and several runs (7k, a couple of slow 4ks with D, 5k and a 4 quick miles on the treadmill). For me, "random" workouts mean that I don't necessarily have a workout planned when I step outside or into the gym, but I'm still diligent about getting all my workouts done each week: upper body, core, legs and cardio.

This was my leg workout of the week. I can't take credit for it one, I got it straight out of my April issue of Oxygen. You can use a barbell, DBs or a medicine ball to add weight to these moves. Click each exercise for example - reverse lunge off step, stiff-legged deadlift, lunge around the world, one-legged squat, step up. Note: lunge around the world involves 3 lunges for each rep, so cut your reps in half for this one (5-6 reps per side)!

click for link

M and I hit up Target on Thursday and were powerless to resist the active wear section. We both walked out with a couple of the comfiest sports bras ever. I am in love.

Surprisingly, the highlight of the week in terms of food was this tuna melt that D made because he didn't have the energy to cook anything extravagant. He makes quite a gourmet tuna salad with mayo, capers, pickle, garlic and a dash of hot sauce. He added some baby greens, avocado and cheddar before popping them under the broiler and holy crap, I don't know if I can ever eat tuna without avocado again! It was outrageously good.

perfect spring/summer dish -- we'll definitely be making this again

I would also definitely recommend this super simple and delicious pasta salad recipe we had (apparently we enjoyed a lot of capers this week). We had copious amounts for dinner one night and it was all I could think about at work the next day.

Tonight is a grand family dinner, so I'll be making a special cake that is definitely not healthy or clean eating...you've got to live a little sometimes! :)

chocolate pb balls

I have been making this clean eating recipe for ages and it's a hit every time. Get creative and add any ingredients that you think would go well together. I love tossing in shredded unsweetened coconut, but you could also add nuts, seeds raisins, cranberries, chocolate chips...

A couple of these babies will satisfy your sweet craving, plus they're full of healthy fats and sneaky ingredients like flax and wheat germ that you won't even taste!

[adapted from The Gracious Pantry]

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Agave syrup
• 4 tsp vanilla
• 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 2 cups quick oats
• 4 tbsp flax seeds
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
  

Directions:

Combine all ingredients together in a large bowl and mix well. Cover the bowl and put it in the fridge for 15+ minutes. When mixture is chilled, use your hands to form it into bite-sized balls (depending on how big you make them, you should be able to get 30-40 out of this recipe).

Line the balls on a baking sheet, cover with parchment paper and put in the freezer for 45 minutes. Remove, put balls in an airtight container and store in the fridge for whenever you want a delicious snack.

upper body killer

Here's a killer upper body workout. Each move is done to failure (i.e., you can't crank out any more reps without losing your form).

Grab lighter weights than you would if you were doing a regular strength training session and tire those muscles out!

I was only able to do pushups from my knees and I managed 15 bench dips in sets of 5 at the end--my arms were that done!

rain run

I don't know how I managed to get so much done today considering how lethargic I've felt, which is ironic since I have been taking my iron pills as per my doctor's orders--shouldn't I have more energy?

Anyway, I somehow did laundry, took out the garbage + recycling, dealt with a bunch of stuff (snowboards, our Christmas tree in its giant box, bike rack) that D has been saying he'll take down to the storage locker for ages. I finally caved and did it myself, then organized the office area, hung a bunch of artwork, went to Future Shop to get a guitar stand for D, then to Michael's for some more picture frames. I vacuumed, made the bed and then didn't really know what to do, so I ended up going for a 17k run. WHAT?! I know, right! I was seriously considering just doing nothing even though I took a rest day yesterday and had told myself I should do a leg workout today. Honestly, gas is so ridiculously expensive right now that I didn't want to drive to the gym, and for some strange reason running won out over sitting on the couch watching a movie (which perhaps I will do now).

oh yah, I can hear it calling out to me

I'm so glad I went out because it was just lovely and one of those runs where once you get warmed up you feel like a million bucks. It was a miserable, gray evening and it rained on me a bit, but I ran to my favourite spot in the city and just enjoyed all the interesting sights (such as: an epically huge snail, a float plane landing, an old man walking along the breakwater cradling an injured bird, several townhouses and apartments I'd like to buy, many cyclists and other runners getting their workouts in).

I came home, showered, and whipped up some breakfast for dinner:

1 egg scrambled with onions, cherry tomatoes, avocado and cheddar, plus flax bread toasted and slathered with lemon curd to reward myself for getting off my ass when I really didn't want to!

I will end with some words of running wisdom...

banana espresso shake & glorious nuts

This week the weather has been too nice not to bike to work every day. I'm working on getting my cycling legs back after a winter of not riding--so far so good.

Those legs may look small but I swear they're strong!

When I got home today, I wanted to try and make a shake with banana and coffee in it, because I saw a drink like that on the menu at a local cafe and it's been on my mind ever since. This was my first attempt and while it hit the spot, I'm sure there are lots of ways to make it better (like adding cocoa, freezing the banana first so it's thicker).

Banana espresso shake

• 1 banana
• 5 ice cubes
• 2 shots decaf espresso
• 1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk

D takes a picture from his usual spot on the couch

Lately D and I have been walking in the evenings like we used to at our old place. It's not quite as quiet or rural around our new location, but we've found a couple of nearby parks that we frequent. I'm thinking I can ease him back into exercising by starting with some easy walking and then BAM I'll start nagging him about running again (it's a good thing he doesn't read this).

I am pretty much a squirrel now

Okay, let's talk about nuts. I adore nuts: peanuts, Brazil nuts, cashews, pistachios, walnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, mmmm! I used to snack on homemade trail mix a lot, but when I started eating so many pb&j sandwiches, I cut way back my nut consumption. I thought that since nuts are so high in fat, I should be watching how often I was eating them or I'd gain a bunch of weight...

Then on the weekend, Linz rocked my world by introducing me to this video that literally made me go out and buy about a million dollars worth of nuts and nut butters. I am happy to report that I am back to enjoying lots of nuts every day and so far I have not gained any weight. :) I will keep you posted.

That brings me to the combination pictured below. Honestly, (I can't believe I'm saying this) I think apple slices & cashew butter rival peanut butter & jam!!! Cashew butter is expensive but it is so good I can barely control myself around it.

boating > arm workouts

If you're planning to do your upper body workout at the gym but then you get the chance to spend the day on a boat instead (and the forecast is calling for sun & a high of 23 degrees)...you reschedule the upper body workout and take to the seas and nearby islands instead (at least that's what I do)!

I made up for my day of leisure the next day by cycling out to the peninsula and running 9k with Linz. It was supposed to be 12k but it ended up being a) a hilly route, b) about 28 degrees out and c) both our legs were pretty toast from biking (she'd been training the day before), so we called it at 9 and walked the rest of the way.

This morning I did the upper body workout I had originally planned for Saturday, and then I went completely nuts at the market and bought outrageous amounts of food; I couldn't help it, everything just looked so fresh and appetizing! I came home and did up some fruit salad for tossing over yogurt during the week and put together a sick nut/seed/dried cantaloupe mix.

strawberries, grapes, pineapple & mango

a lot of competing flavours but totally delicious

After my shopping rampage it was time for a baking rampage. I made our favourite banana bread recipe (with walnuts & mini dark chocolate chips this time).

And I also made this granola bar recipe (see gallery below for the process). We are definitely going to be snacking smart this week! Well, we do that pretty much every week I guess, but I still get excited every time we're really well stocked with homemade snacks. I realized recently that I can't even remember the last time I bought granola bars or muffins or similar snack foods at the store, which makes me so happy. :)

A 7k run + 3k walk around Elk Lake this afternoon with my brother tired me out so I am glad to be sitting on the couch and planning a relaxing evening with D. Too bad it's back to the grind tomorrow. :(