EJCC and Showbread's Cooking/Exercise Extravaganza!

[Showbread]

So, my post Thanksgiving cardio plans have been foiled by waking up sick yesterday. I was planning to jog with my dogs yesterday and today, but I have a nasty cough.

However, I did go rock climbing yesterday! I've always liked rock climbing, but I've never gotten super into it. That might change! I went with a friend from high school yesterday and I loved it. It's fun, and such an intense workout. My upper body is definitely weaker than lower. My legs and core aren't really sore at all, but my arms and back are killing me!

We have a rock wall on campus, and there's open climb nights throughout the week. I know a few people who go so I'm going to make it a goal to do that at least once a week. I should also start adding more pushups, assisted pull-ups to my workout routine. I'm considering taking an aerobics class next semester. At my school I pay a flat tuition for up to 18 credits, and I think I'm at 16 right now. Might as well take as many exercise classes as I can while they are paid for!

Food for this week, planning to make chicken and dumplings. I found a recipe that doesn't use canned soup! Might reduce the butter a bit, and I'll definitely add extra veggies (green beans!). I will probably also use whole wheat pastry flour for the dumplings.

 

[EJCC]

Very successful food this week!

- Breakfasts: Overnight Chai Steel-Cut Oats | thishomemadelife (topped with pecans!)
- Lunches: Baked sweet potato with cranberries, pecans, goat cheese, and kale (had a lot of leftover Thanksgiving ingredients, and improvised)
- Dinners: Gnocchi with Sausage and Kale | Bev Cooks (used Trader Joe's apple/chardonnay sausage, which was a really good choice -- only problem with the recipe is that it calls for too little oil. Be warned)

Also lots of treats. It's been hard to get back in the rhythm of normal eating since Thanksgiving.

Haven't been working out because I've been feeling tired/sickish? Hoping that'll go away soon!

 

[Showbread]

This next week and a half are going to be kind of weird in terms of food for me. I was planning to make chicken and dumplings to eat this week. But, I got the flu and ended up flying back from CA two days later than planned so it ended up being a short week. I've been living on the Thanksgiving leftovers I froze and then put in my suitcase when I flew back, which was a genius idea. I brought back turkey, stuffing, and green beans (not casserole, just steamed). I've been eating mostly turkey breast and green beans, with just a little stuffing so not too bad. I'm going to take the frozen chicken tortilla soup out and eat that too.

I'm in kind of an awkward spot because I'm actually flying back to CA for winter break a week from Saturday, so I don't want to do a bunch of shopping/cooking. I'll eat the chicken tortilla soup, ENFJ roommate made kale and quinoa minestrone today that she is sharing so I'll eat that too. When all the soup is gone I might make chicken and dumplings... Or, I might use up my extra meals/points for the school cafeteria. I typically just use those for lunches, but I have more leftover then there are lunches. We'll see.

On the exercise front, I haven't done anything since I rock climbed Friday (I've had the flu). I think I'm going to a swing dancing lesson tomorrow night, and then again Saturday night. My school does a winter formal swing dance every year and it's on Sunday evening. After that I'll have yoga Monday, and I'll try to climb at least once next week.

 

[Showbread]

Technically I didn't make this soup, but it's really healthy(really good) and I'm eating it so posting the recipe!

Kale and Quinoa Minestrone

Really, really yummy. When I make, which I will eventually I will make the following mods:
- Green bell pepper instead of red
- Omit celery
- Omit parsley
- Omit cannellini beans
- Add crushed red pepper

Definitely top with shaved or shredded parmesan, not the nasty grated stuff.

Edit: Really yummy, but not very filling. Resisting the urge to get something sweet, I've had way too much sugar today. I'll probably get some ww toast with almond butter. The lack of fat is probably why I'm dissatisfied.

 

[Unionruler]

Just wanted to say that I find this thread so cute (like awww!) even though I'm nowhere near a health and fitness junkie

 

[Showbread]

Just wanted to say that I find this thread so cute (like awww!) even though I'm nowhere near a health and fitness junkie

We're nowhere near health/fitness junkies either. Hence the need for a thread.

 

[á´…eparted]

Want to throw in that I am going to attempt to make these this evening! I don't have a stand mixer, and I have never made bread before, but... meh? Here's to hoping my chemist skills will get me through a new recipe once again .

Alton Brown's Homemade Soft Pretzels.

Also gonna get stuff to make scrambled eggs (been craving them for who the hell knows why), and maybe the stuff to make chili since I can cook that in my sleep I've done it so many times.

 

[Showbread]

Want to throw in that I am going to attempt to make these this evening! I don't have a stand mixer, and I have never made bread before, but... meh? Here's to hoping my chemist skills will get me through a new recipe once again .

Alton Brown's Homemade Soft Pretzels.

Also gonna get stuff to make scrambled eggs (been craving them for who the hell knows why), and maybe the stuff to make chili since I can cook that in my sleep I've done it so many times.

You can do it! Bread can be a bit of a learning curve, but you definitely don't need a stand mixer. You'll just have to knead by hand for a little longer than you would mix.

Also, Alton's yeast puppets are hysterical. Burping and farting noises should NOT be that funny. But they are.

 

[á´…eparted]

You can do it! Bread can be a bit of a learning curve, but you definitely don't need a stand mixer. You'll just have knead by hand for a lit longer than you would mix.

Also, Alton's yeast puppets are hysterical. Burping and farting noises should NOT be that funny. But they are.

Turns out I'll be making them tomorrow cause I just got roped into a party. Either way I am excited .

Omg Pretzel Logic is one of my favorite episodes (though nothing will beat Oh My, Meat Pie)! I laughed at his show so so so much. I find his sock puppets delightful, I could care less if they are or are not supposed to be funny . He'll, I'll laugh at food popping/exploding in a microwave, I have no right to claim humor basis, haha.

 

[á´…eparted]

SUCCESS! Omg words can not describe how delicious these are. I shall be doing many more things bread related in the future!!!!

 

[ceecee]

SUCCESS! Omg words can not describe how delicious these are. I shall be doing many more things bread related in the future!!!!

Excellent! If you like those, you would probably like homemade bagels, which are made in almost exactly the same way.

Real Homemade Bagels Recipe - Allrecipes.com

 

[á´…eparted]

Oh, and for those who have never seen them

 

[Showbread]

Oh, and for those who have never seen them

Yesssssss.

 

[EJCC]

Working out has NOT been happening. So much for my momentum. I'll try to at least get 20 minutes in tonight -- upper body bodyweight stuff. Fingers crossed.


It's been a weird cooking week. I made a huge batch of beer mac and cheese (not including the recipe because it only turned out okay), that was supposed to last all week, but instead, because the sauce wasn't thick and I had friends over, lasted pretty much one day. I split the last serving into two parts and made it into two identical meals (mac and cheese, broccoli, and half an apple sausage).

Here's the stuff that turned out well:

- This quiche: Asparagus, Spinach, & Feta Quiche Recipe | Vegetarian Quiche | Two Peas & Their Pod (I've made it before and had frozen asparagus to use up -- was going to be lunches, but has ended up being breakfasts instead)
- This pasta sauce, with wheat spaghetti and LOADS of spinach: tomato sauce with onion and butter | smitten kitchen (will have the rest of it for dinner tonight and tomorrow night, with my last frozen chicken breast)

After that's used up, I'm not sure what I'll do for food. I don't want to have a lot of perishable stuff left over before I leave for two weeks for Christmas/New Years. So I'll finagle some ways to use the rest of my spinach, kale, green onions, etc.

 

[Showbread]

Food and exercise this week did not go well. So much sugar. I didn't even make or purchase any of it. It was just kept showing up, everywhere. I went to yoga on Monday, and I rock climbed Thursday, so that's something at least. I'm back in CA now with my parents and their house is full of sugar. My dad is well liked by his employees and vendors so they all bring him food at Christmas. So, since sugar consumption in some capacity is basically inevitable, I need to prioritize and decide what is actually going to be worth the calories. Homemade eggnog is definitely on that list because it's my FAVORITE. Unfortunately it also has 400 calories a cup because it's the good stuff, made with whole milk and cream. Mmmm. I'll probably buy some bourbon tomorrow so I can spike it. I also usually mix it with almond milk because it's really rich. That makes it a tiny bit better (I'm really good at rationalizing things).

In terms of savory food, my family doesn't eat too bad. Plus, if I volunteer to cook I can make it even healthier.

For exercise, I can jog with my dogs. I also have a gym membership that my mom never canceled. I like doing regular workouts there, and they also have classes like yoga, spin, etc. I'm going to make it a goal to do something 3 at the gym 3 times a week. Potentially in addition to jogging with the dogs. I'm also going rock climbing at least once for sure.

 

[EJCC]

SO MUCH COOKING WIN.

#1 : Vietnamese vermicelli noodle bowls

One of the best things I've ever made. <3 Took a trip to my local Asian grocery beforehand, so I was able to use actual kinh giá»›i instead of substituting mint/basil like I was originally planning on doing.

Note: this recipe is MUCH easier than it looks. The only problem is that it's time-consuming and requires a lot of specialty ingredients (not just the kinh giá»›i, but the pork shoulder, vermicelli noodles, bird's eye peppers, and pickled daikon radishes -- not to mention stuff like fish sauce that most people don't consider to be a staple/necessity in their fridge, like I do.) But that isn't much of a problem at all, if 1) you have access to a specialty grocery, and 2) you're doing this on a weekend and having friends over. Which I did. And it was phenomenal.


#2 : Green lentil and kale soup with coconut milk and spices

I only had 1 cup of lentils, so I reduced everything except the spices and the kale by 1/3. I used the same amount of spices and maybe three handfuls of kale, and it was just about perfect that way. LOVED it with more kale and spices.

#3 : Sweet potato and caramelized onion quiche

I'd used this recipe before, so I learned from my previous mistakes (i.e. following the recipe), and:
1) Used 4 eggs and 1.5 cups milk instead of 5 eggs and 2 cups milk
2) Used half the number of onions and sweet potatoes that they call for

I also substituted feta for gorgonzola, because I wanted to use the cheese I had lying around (dear god there's so much cheese in my fridge right now). And I used store-bought crust.

 

[Showbread]

Roasted cauliflower and cheddar soup. YUM!

Made this for the fam tonight and it was really really good! The only thing I changed was use regular sharp cheddar instead of white. Very good, not too rich. It still has the cheese, but not an outrageous amount. And the only liquid other than chicken broth is half a cup of low fat milk. We served it with crusty whole wheat bread and a kale/romaine salad.

For exercise, I went to a yoga class this morning! It was really good, I'll probably even be sore tomorrow.

 

[EJCC]

[MENTION=19948]Showbread[/MENTION] Found this for ya:

 

[HongDou]

You guys need to stop making me hungry. (I'm trying to get back in shape before New Zealand, so I've been working out and trying to eat healthier too)

Sweet potatoes are a godsend tbh.

 

[five sounds]

Sweet potatoes are a godsend tbh.

sweet potatoes were my go-to when i was eating super healthy. they're perfect for something warm and satisfying that isn't terrible for you.

baked sweet potato in the microwave filled with black beans and warm veggies was my jaaam.

(p.s. sorry for blowin you up today chanaynay )