Goals For 2012

Now that I have had some time to reflect (and to recover from the cold/plague that my children so generously shared with me), I have thought about my goals for 2012. But first, I wanted to recap my 2011 Goals:

2011 Goals

1. Post on blog more often. Hmmm, not so successful on this one.
2. Run a marathon. Check.
3. Be more personable. I think I accomplished this, more so in the latter part of the year.
4. Spend more time with my family. Double check. (Also more so in the latter part of the year.)


Here are my goals for 2012. I came up with a few more this year....


2012 Goals

1. Eat a healthy, balanced diet. I recently read Craig Ballantyne's 14-Day Fast Fat Loss Guide where he gives a complete 14-day Fast-Track guide to fat loss using the exact plan he gave to a college buddy who had gained 25 pounds since the birth of his baby. Lots of great advice in that article. This would be a great kick-start for 2012, even for me. I gained a couple pounds over the holidays and would like to quickly lose them (see Goal #2).

2. Maintain my weight. After losing those couple "holiday pounds", I'd like to maintain my weight. At the end of TT Contest #12, I felt like I was at a good weight. I'd like to stay around 145 lbs.

3. Be present and focused in every workout. No more listening to October Project during my workouts. I need more girl-power, butt-kicking music. :)

4. Increase number of pull ups I can do. I am beginning Shawna Kaminski's Pull Up Challenge Workout next week and I would like to increase the number of pull ups I can do in a row to 10. Mini goal: 5 pull ups after 4 weeks of the program. I haven't been able to do that many in a row for a while now. I am looking forward to working toward this goal.

5. Get my chin ups count back to over 10. I used to be able to do that many, then I stopped working on it.

6. Hug my children more often. :)

7. Post on my blog 2-3 times a week. I plan to post my progress with my workouts, and am hoping to start posting recipes again.

8. Keep up with the housecleaning. I am a horrible housewife. ;)


That's about it. Hope everyone is having a great New Year!


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TT Contest Week 4 - Update and Really Exciting News

My Goodness, has it really been nearly 4 weeks since I posted?

[Hangs head in shame.]

Where to begin?

Well....on Sunday I will have completed the first 4 weeks of the TT Contest. I'm just finishing up TT for Meatheads V and loving it! Next week I will begin TT for Jacked and Lean Meatheads. I'm a little scared - one of the guys on the TT Forums has been saying it's a tough workout!

Speaking of the TT Forums, I've been really good about posting my workouts and nutrition in my contest thread, something that I didn't do in the last contest. I'd forgotten how much fun it can be to interact with all of the other contest participants.

Nutrition has been pretty solid. Only a few little glitches here and there. One of my goals for this contest is to eat vegetarian at least 2 full days per week. So far that has been going well. I got tons of yummy-looking recipes courtesy of the 21-Day Vegan Kickstart. I've made some of those and am looking forward to trying a lot more! Tonight for dinner I made a pizza using a crust recipe from Vegetarian Times, homemade meatless sausage, and Daiya vegan cheese. It was, in a word, AWESOME!

In minor news, I got a new haircut. It looks like a cross between Joan Jett and Jon Bon Jovi, lol.

And finally, in the Really Exciting News department, it's time once again for Tattoo Watch!! I got a laser treatment earlier today and I am hoping it works well. The place where I used to go doesn't do tattoo removal any longer so I had to find a new doctor and a new clinic. The laser they used today was a little different so I am excited to see the results! Hopefully I'll have weekly pictures as I have done in the past.

Have a great day!


Please see my Disclaimer/Disclosure Statement.

TT Contest Week 3: It's Tough Being An Ant

Week 3 ended for me on last Sunday. I'm a little late with this post; time seems to be moving in fast forward!

Week 3 went pretty well overall. Nutrition was decent, and workouts went well. I got a little off track over Memorial Day Weekend, but overall things went well. So far, I am down about 3 lbs and 1% bodyfat. I have made a few changes in the past couple weeks. First, I started eating lunch later. Then I started moving back my afternoon snack. Finally, we started eating dinner later. We used to eat dinner around 5-5:30; now it's closer to 7:00pm. This has really helped me cut down on my evening snacking.

This past Monday we grilled on our new (nearly finished!) patio. The grill actually came with the house but we never used it because it was filthy dirty. When we built the patio, we decided to clean up the grill and put it to use. I'm happy to report that the maiden voyage was a complete success! [Hopefully I'll have patio pictures soon - just waiting for the new grass to grow! :) ]

As we were finishing lunch, we noticed an ant making off with a crumb of hamburger bun that was at least the same size as he was. I was quite impressed with his tenacity. He headed off the patio due south and dragged this crumb off the patio, through the dirt, and finally all the way across the lawn to the other side of the yard. It took him 30 minutes of pretty hard work. (Yes, I watched the entire time.) At one point another ant came along and I thought I may have to help the ant fend off the intruder, but the other ant went away. I actually began to cheer for the ant to make it to his destination. And then when he got there, I promptly sprinkled Ortho Home Defense Max all over the ginormous anthill in the yard. Some days it's tough being an ant.

Have a great week!

TT Contest Week 2: Burning Down The House

Week 2 is complete! Once again I skipped my Monday workout because I was so sore from all the work on the patio over the weekend! :) I did the workout on Tuesday instead. Overall, my nutrition has been kind of a mess this week. Some days good, some days...not as good. But my weight did go down just a bit. I think it must be all the extra work I've been doing on the weekends. lol

I've been using the TT Hot Zone Fat Loss Workout. It's one that I've never used before. One of the reasons I chose it is because on Fridays you do a 20 minute "high intensity" cardio instead of the intervals that you do on Monday and Wednesday. I thought this would help me gear up for all the running I will be doing this summer. I officially kick off my half marathon training on May 31.

The last day to enter the Turbulence Training Transformation contest and still have the full 12 weeks is May 31. Come and join me this summer in the contest! (To my sister-in-law, if you're reading this, This Means You! lol) You can read the all the rules here ==> TT Contest Rules

On Saturday night I made a pizza using the pizza crust recipe from a recent issue of Cooking Light magazine (except I used whole wheat flour). The crust was a lot of work, but on the other hand, not a lot of work. Let me explain. ;)

First, the crust had to be made 24 hours in advance so it could sit in the fridge. However, the only ingredients in the crust were flour, water, yeast and oil so it was easy to throw together.

Second, the recipe made the pizza more of a "Neapolitan" style - cooked at a high temperature (550 degrees F) on a pizza stone. My pizza stone hasn't seen the light of day in a while so it probably should have been cleaned a little better, but I popped it in the oven anyway. Soon thereafter, smoke started pouring out of my oven! With 5 minutes left of a 30 minute preheat, I made a last minute decision to ditch the pizza stone. By now, the smoke was getting pretty thick. So instead, I popped in my perforated pizza pan. Well, that started smoking too! lol

I put the pizza on the perforated pan, threw it in the oven, and lowered the temperature to 440 degrees F. Finally, the smoking stopped! I had to open all the windows and turn on fans to get all the smoke out of the house.

So after all that work, how did the pizza taste? My kids deemed it "super-duper-licious" and we ate the whole thing. I'll make this crust again for sure, but next time I'm going to follow the recipe for Chicago deep dish. Same crust recipe, but you cook it in a baking pan at a lower temperature. :)

Have a great week!




Please see my Disclaimer/Disclosure Statement.

Tasty Tuesday - Hamantaschen

As I mentioned in the Comments of my last post, I'm not Catholic. I'm not Jewish either, but a gal I work with is, and today she brought in cookies to celebrate Purim (which begins this weekend). The cookies were traditional Hamantsachen, named after Haman, minister to the Persian King from whom the Jews fled persecution in the fifth century BCE. You can read more about Purim here: Purim History. The gal I work with said that the cookies are made in the shape of Haman's hat.

I found a recipe online and naturally I had to tinker with it. I'm sure these aren't completely traditional, but they got 2 thumbs up from both kids, even from my son, who says he doesn't like prunes. :)

Hamantaschen

dough:
1 and 1/4 cups brown rice flour
1/4 cup almond flour/meal
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon baking powder

3 Tablespoons very hot water
1 Tablespoon flax, ground
1 egg white
1/4 cup buttery spread, softened (such as Earth Balance)
1 Tablespoon coconut oil, softened
2 Tablespoons pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup powdered Stevia (such as Stevia in the Raw)

filling:
1 cup pitted prunes (about 24)
2 Tablespoons water
2 teaspoons agave nectar

1. Mix the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl.

2. Mix the hot water and flax. Blend in the buttery spread, coconut oil, pumpkin, egg white, lemon zest, vanilla and Stevia.

3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and blend well. Place in the fridge for about 15 minutes or so.

4. While dough is chilling, preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare filling by placing all ingredients in a food processor until it's a paste.

5. Roll out dough between 2 pieces of parchment or waxed paper until it is about 1/4" thick. You will have to do this in several batches. Return dough to fridge for a bit if it gets too soft.

6. Cut dough into 3" circles with a biscuit cutter or even a drinking glass. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Place a teaspoon or so of filling in the middle of the dough and fold sides to make a triangle. Pinch corners of triangle together.

7. Bake for 12-15 minutes.


I made 28, each with approximately:

72 calories
1.2g protein
2.9g fat
10.7g carbs
1.1g fiber

Tasty Tuesday - Black Bean Burgers

These were awesome! My son plowed through his burger and I don't think it ever occurred to him that it wasn't made out of ground beef. This recipe is adapted from Tosca Reno's new Eat Clean Cookbook.

Black Bean Burgers

15oz can black beans
1/2 medium onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 small carrot, grated
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
2 egg whites
1/2 cup wheat bran
2 Tablespoons cashew butter
2 Tablespoons pumpkin puree
2 Tablespoons ground flax
2 Tablespoons sunflower seeds, ground
dash Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. Place everything into a food processor and blend until smooth.

3. Spoon mixture onto parchment paper. I made 9 burgers.

4. Bake for about 20 minutes.

Sorry about the small picture. If I make it bigger it looks all fuzzy. I used a sprouted grain bun and topped mine with a little agave-sweetened ketchup, mustard, pickles, tomato, leaf lettuce, and half a wedge of laughing cow light cheese. :)


If you make 9 like I did, just the patty will have approximately:

109 calories
5.8g protein
4.7g fat
13.0g carbs
4.0g fiber

These freeze really well - so put your leftovers in the freezer and enjoy when you need a quick meal.

Tasty Tuesday - Sweet Potato Pancakes

Make these for your sweetie for Valentine's Day. :)

These got 2 thumbs up from the kids. Even my daughter, who can be picky, ate these and asked for more!

Sweet Potato Pancakes

small sweet potato (about 5oz)
3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons brown rice flour
2 Tablespoons sorghum flour
1.5 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 Tablespoon ground flax
3 Tablespoons boiling water
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
1 Tablespoon pancake syrup (I used sugar free)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon sea salt


1. Cook the sweet potato and mash. I usually poke a few holes through the skin with a knife and microwave for a few minutes.

2. Bring 3 tablespoons of water to a boil in a small bowl (I use the microwave). Add the flax and stir. To this, add the coconut oil, almond milk, pancake syrup and sweet potato.

3. In a large bowl, blend together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, cinnamon and sea salt. Add the sweet potato mixture and mix until just blended.

4. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, drop batter onto a hot griddle. Cook until the edges look dry and flip. Cook a few minutes more. Sprinkle with a little extra cinnamon, if desired.


This will make about a dozen pancakes, each with approximately:

75 calories
1.5g protein
2.4g fat
12.4g carbs
1.3g fiber


I think these might be gluten free, but I'm not an expert in gluten free, so please don't take my word for it! :)

Are You Teff Enough?

This week I have been experimenting with teff for breakfast. Teff is an Ethiopian grain that is high in fiber and also has a good amount of protein. The package says that 1/4 cup is a serving, but every recipe I've seen uses at least 1/2 a cup. I decided to go down the middle. :) I made 3/4 cup and then divided it into two servings.

The downside to making it for breakfast is that it needs to cook on the stove for 15-20 minutes. I was hesitant to make it in the microwave at work like I do with oatmeal, so I made it the night before and portioned it into two bowls. Here's what it looks like right out of the pan, with nothing extra added to it:


The thing is, when you let it cool, it becomes a little bit more solid, and so when I got to work the next day, it was like a brown hockey puck. I microwaved it at work, and added a little extra water to break it up and smooth it out. On Monday and Tuesday, I added blueberries, Stevia and cinnamon. Today I added 1/4 cup pumpkin, Stevia and cinnamon. Tomorrow I think I am going to add applesauce, Stevia and cinnamon.

The teff itself seems to have a pretty bland/neutral taste so what you add to it will make all the difference! The texture after reheating looked weird. It looked like wet sand held together by wet lint. LOL But that wasn't the actual texture at all. It was actually pretty good. Here's what it looked like this morning with the pumpkin added:


I tried to get a good picture of the texture, but my camera wouldn't cooperate. I think this might also be good for lunch or dinner as another rice/quinoa substitute. It's pretty filling, so I probably would make 1/4 cup or less if I was eating it with other things for dinner.

If you looking for something new to try, get teff!

I promised myself I wouldn't start singing "Hanging Teff". ;) LOL

Tasty Tuesday - Kale Chips

I've seen similar recipes online, but I never made these until I saw them in Tosca Reno's new Eat Clean Cookbook. This recipe is adapted from the one in her book. You will NOT believe how great these taste. I almost think that I could blindfold my husband and he would believe that he was eating potato chips. They're that good.

Kale Chips

Per serving, you will need:

1 cup (about 40g) of chopped kale, bigger stems removed
about 1/2 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
sprinkle each of sea salt and garlic powder

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

3. Toss all ingredients in a bowl until kale is evenly coated. Place on baking sheet.

4. Bake for about 25 minutes, until crisp. Watch carefully so that it doesn't burn.


Eat and be amazed! Each serving has approximately:

80 calories
1.5g protein
7g fat
4g carbs
1g fiber

Tasty Tuesday - Beef Cauliflower Casserole

This recipe was pretty much made up on the spot, but it tasted really good. When I was a kid, my favorite dish was tater tot casserole. For some reason, this reminded me of that - it was just a big plate of comfort food. I didn't know what to call it, hence the really generic name! Anyone have any better ideas?

Beef Cauliflower Casserole

4 oz lean ground beef
1/4 cup (dry) long grain brown rice
1 + 1/3 cup (170g) frozen cauliflower
1/4 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup + about 3/4 cup water, divided
salt and pepper
garam masala (optional)
cinnamon (optional)

1. In a sauce pan with a lid, place rice and 1/2 cup water. As the water level decreases, add up to 3/4 cup more water to the pan about 1/4 cup at a time.

2. In a skillet, place the 1 teaspoon olive oil. Add the onions and cook for a couple minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a minute more. Add the ground beef and cook until no pink remains.

3. During the last 10 minutes of the rice cooking, add the cauliflower to the saucepan. Add a little more water if the rice is dry.

4. To the skillet, add a little water to deglaze the pan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Also consider adding a sprinkle each of cinnamon and garam masala. Cook until the water is gone.

5. When the rice/cauliflower is done, add the beef mixture to the pan. Mix and serve. Or just put the rice/cauliflower on your plate and put the meat on top.

Sorry about the bad picture. I think it looks a little foggy because it was still steaming hot when I took the picture!


As one serving, this has approximately:

406 calories
29.6g protein
13.7g fat
43.6g carbs
5.4g fiber

Week 4 In Review - Oh. My. Goodness.

I have sore muscles that I didn't even know existed! One of the reasons is certainly from doing exercises that I've never done before and using machines that I've never used before. For example, this week I used the rear delt machine, which I've never used. I tend to stay away from machines, but this program uses just a couple. I decided that if I was going to use this program, I would use the machines. The only exception is the lying leg curl. The last time I used that machine (years ago), I threw out my back. So I won't use that one again.

Workouts went really well. I began Phase 2, which is made up of supersets. The supersets use the same muscle groups, with lower weight/higher reps for the first exercise and higher weight/lower reps for the second exercise. I can tell that I have gained muscle, which is pretty cool. Even though I have gained some fat as well.

Today I ran for 7.25 miles. I didn't try to break any records; I just picked a pace that felt good and stuck with it for most of the run. The first mile went well, but at the end of the second mile it started to mist and I was running against the wind. After I turned around, the wind was behind me and it stopped misting. Around the fourth mile, I turned a corner (literally, not figuratively) and the wind was coming at me from the side. I got a little chilly because the wind was blowing right across all my sweat and was making me cold. During the fifth mile it started to mist again and during the sixth mile I turned back into the wind. Between the wind and the rain and me being warm, my glasses were so foggy and water-spotted that I could hardly see through them. The start of the last mile was tough because it felt like I was in a wind tunnel. I finished in 1:19:42 (about an 11:00 pace).

Nutrition this week was hit and miss. I would do really well, and then fall off the wagon. One day I ate an entire bag of trail mix, another day I reacquainted myself with the peanut butter jar.

I saw a really great bumper sticker this week - If you believe you can tell me what to think, then I believe I can tell you where to go. :)

Next week will be similar to this week workout-wise; I will be adding another set to each superset and the reps will be slightly less, so I should be able to raise the weight on some of the exercises.

Have a great week!

Tasty Tuesday - Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

The other day the kids were asking for cookies and I thought oatmeal raisin sounded good. I checked out the recipe that comes on the canister of oatmeal and the first ingredient was 2 sticks of butter. I decided I was going to try something different. I based my recipe off of a couple different recipes. Here's what I came up with - the kids gave them 2 thumbs up! :)

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Dry Ingredients
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1.25 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup raisins (I used 4 "fun size" boxes)

Wet Ingredients
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/4 cup egg whites (about 1-2 egg whites)
1/4 cup pancake syrup (I used sugar free)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla


1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Except for the raisins, mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl, and mix the wet ingredients in another bowl.

3. Pour the wet into the dry and mix until just blended. Stir in the raisins.

4. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. I used a small scoop.

5. Bake for 10 minutes.


I made 21 small cookies, each with approximately:

46 calories
2g protein
0.4g fat
8.7g carbs
1.3g fiber

End of Week 3 - Phase One Complete!

Phase 1 of my new workout program finished this week. It was fun! It had different techniques that I have never done before (like peak double contractions). Phase 2 starts this week and it's more standard supersets, but they are "pre-fatigue" supersets - I will be doing more reps of the first exercise with lower weights and fewer reps of the second exercise with heavier weights.

Overall, workouts this week went well. The reps were low for most exercises so I added more weight. I was still sore a few days after the workouts, so I was happy because I knew I was working hard and my muscles were not adapting to the workout.

Yesterday, I ran 6.5 miles outside. Whoo-hoo! Because of the really cold weather I had been running at the gym, so that was a nice change. It was icy in a number of places so I had to slow down, but the run felt really good. My time was 1:07:40 (about a 10:25 pace) and I was thrilled with that. It was still pretty cold out, though. When I got home, my legs were numb. When I took off my hat, I discovered there was "snow" on it. It wasn't snowing so I couldn't figure out how snow got on my hat until I realized that it was sweat that had frozen! :) Today I am going to go out and run an easy 2 mile recovery run. Yesterday my hips really started hurting during the 5th mile, so I want to try and run a little more during the week, instead of just one day.

My big change this past week with nutrition was to eat breakfast immediately post-workout (about 6:30am), and then have a snack at work around 9:15am. Prior to last week, I would eat a snack post-workout and then eat breakfast at work at about 8:30am. I'm not so sure I liked the larger post-workout meal - time is short in the morning and a quick snack is easier.

This week I will be back to more of a snack post-workout (e.g., a scoop of whey and a banana) and then I plan to eat about every 2 hours, consuming between 200-250 calories each meal. Even during my most zealous calorie-counting days, I never counted calories for individual meals, only for the entire day. However, I don't plan on using fitday for my counting; I'm just going to estimate calories for the most part. So my day will look like this:

6:30am - meal one
8:30am - meal two
10:30am - meal three
12:30pm - meal four
2:30pm - meal five
5:30pm - meal six
7:30pm - meal seven

If I stay between 200 and 250 calories per meal on average, my calorie range should be between 1400 and 1750, which is just right for me for fat loss. I've gained about 10 lbs since I finished my last TT contest. Since I was using a muscle-building program, I hadn't been counting calories at all, just trying to eat clean foods. However, even though phases 2 and 3 are still considered muscle-building, I'm going to start watching calories so I don't gain too much more weight. I'm hoping some of this is muscle! :)

If you are interested, here's the link to this week's TT Call -> Weekly Fat Loss Call. A few of the things Craig talks about this week are his Transformation Tip of the Week, updates to the TT2K4 workout, and the Bodyweight 200.

Have a great week!

Disclosure: This post does not contain an affiliate link. I just think the calls are fun to listen to. :)

Week 2 Review - Manic Monday

I really wanted to post my Week-In-Review this weekend, but it seemed like it was so busy. And then when I did have a little time, I felt guilty turning my back to the kids while I typed on the computer. So...I decided to spend some time with the kids. :)

BUT.....I also felt like I should be posting something. It made me a little stressed and I think that's why my eating this weekend wasn't the best it could be. Blogging should be fun; it shouldn't cause anxiety!

Otherwise my nutrition during Week 2 was great! I felt awesome all week. I tried something new this week - a "Greens" supplement. It doesn't taste fantastic, but my energy was really UP all week. However, it might just be because I was eating well, and not from the Greens supplement at all. But I'll keep trying it for now.

Workouts this week went great. Saturday I ran about 5 miles on the treadmill and my hips were so sore later that night! I hadn't run much during the previous week and I was surprised at how much my hips hurt. By Sunday they felt much better.

After Monday's leg workout, I wasn't quite as sore as last week, although I could still feel it on Wednesday!

All the rest of the workouts this week went well. I raised the weight on a lot of exercises (lower reps) and wasn't as sore as last week, but definitely still felt it in my triceps and biceps over the weekend.

This past Saturday I ran a little over 4 miles and my hips didn't hurt at all, so that was great. If you're ever at my gym, I'm the one air drumming on the treadmill. The time goes so fast while you're listening to good music! :)

Have a great week!

Recipe Wednesday - Vegetarian Taco Filling

Today is the last Recipe Wednesday...because next week it's moving to Tuesday!! :)

This recipe was adapted from the Meatless Chili Recipe in the Incredibly Easy Vegetarian cookbook. I added green chilies and more spices to make a taco filling. It turned out really well! The book also recommends using this on pizza, or over spaghetti, rice or chips.

1 cup dry red lentils, rinsed
2 cups water
1/2 packet dry onion soup mix
1 cup (8oz can) tomato sauce
2 T chopped green chilies
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
salt and pepper, to taste

1. In a saucepan, bring the lentils and water to a boil. Add the soup mix and simmer for about 10 minutes.

2. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for about 10-15 minutes longer.

This will fill about 12 tacos or so. I crisped a couple corn tortillas in the oven and piled on salsa, leaf lettuce, tomatoes and a little cheese. My tacos didn't all look this neat. LOL (I ate 3 tacos.)


If you assume 12, the filling per taco would have approximately:

58 calories
3.8g protein
0g fat
10.9g carbs
2.3g fiber


So if you ate 1/2 the recipe as a chili instead, it would have approximately:

348 calories
22.8g protein
0g fat
65.4g carbs
13.8g fiber

And Now For Something Completely Different

Many of you know that I have used Turbulence Training for most of the past 2 years and love it. For the past year, I also have been a member of the Precision Nutrition forums. When I was looking for a new workout to use after my current TT workout, I stumbled onto the workouts section on the PN forums. One of them really caught my eye and I have decided to give it a try! It's a bit different from what I have been doing, and there are lots of techniques that I've never done before. So I'm pretty excited to get started!

Overall, it's a 22 week program, broken into 7 phases. Each phase is only 3 or 4 weeks long. The 7th phase is just the last week; I don't think I will actually be doing that phase because it's supposed to be a final "peak" week prior to a competition. And as I don't plan to compete anytime soon, I'm probably going to just take that week off before I begin my....[fanfare]...12 week half marathon training!

Yes, you read that right. I've signed up to run a half marathon at the end of this summer! That's 13.1 miles - Yikes!

I'm going to concentrate on this other workout program first. The first 10 weeks is focused on building muscle (but I'm going to continue to run on only Saturdays during this time).

Since I am using a workout from the PN forums, I've decided to more closely follow the 10 principles or "habits" of PN. I've been a little lax with a couple of the principles. I also am going to aim to get more sleep, which means going to bed about 30 minutes earlier than I am now.

My new program kicks off this morning! I'm looking forward to the first workout. I have my new hot pink training journal and am ready to go! :)

If you are looking for a new training program, don't forget the next TT contest has just begun. Nothing like a competition to motivate! And currently Turbulence Training is selling for 50% off until Friday, January 1st, at 9:00pm ET. (Comes with 5 bonus workouts and 30 days of access to the TT Members website.)

Have a great day!!


Disclosure: This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase the product, I will receive a small portion.

Recipe Wednesday - Chocolate Chip Cookies

My mom makes the best chocolate chip cookies. They are basically the Original Toll House Recipe with just a little tweak. But instead of giving away her secret, I'm going to share my adapted, slightly healthier version. After all, a cookie is still a cookie. :)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1.5 cups spelt or whole wheat flour
1/4 cup sorghum flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) butter, softened
2 Tablespoons coconut oil
2 Tablespoons pumpkin puree
1/2 cup powdered Stevia (I used "Stevia in the Raw")
3/4 cup Sucanat
1 Tablespoon unsulphured molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 (10 oz) package of grain-sweetened chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a small bowl, blend flours, baking soda and salt.

3. With a mixer, beat butter, Stevia, Sucanat, molasses and vanilla extract until smooth. Add the coconut oil and pumpkin. Then add the eggs one at a time, blending well after each one.

4. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts.

5. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet. (I used a small scoop and used parchment paper on my cookie sheet.)

6. Bake for 8-9 minutes. Do not overbake.

According to the Toll House website, their recipe makes 60 cookies at 110 calories each. I made 49 cookies at about 92 calories each.

Sorry for the bad picture. Maybe Santa will bring me a new camera. :)

Happy Holidays!!!

Recipe Wednesday - Dutch Speculaas Cookies

Some of you may know I have a lot of Dutch in my background, so when I saw a recipe for Dutch Speculaas cookies in a recent issue of Vegetarian Times, I wanted to give it a try. If you've ever had a "Dutch Windmill Cookie", those are kind of like a Speculaas.

When I started making the recipe, I was thinking, "did I even read this recipe before starting?" because I kept running out of ingredients and had to improvise on the spot! The cookies turned out great, though, so I wanted to share my adapted recipe. Don't be afraid of the number of ingredients - these go together pretty quickly.

Dutch Speculaas Cookies

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup spelt flour
3/4 cup sorghum flour
3/4 cup almond meal/flour
4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teapoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 cups sucanat
2 Tablespoons honey
2 Tablespoons unsulfured molasses
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 egg
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted (optional)


1. Blend together flours, spices, baking soda, salt and pepper.

2. With an electric mixer, cream butter, coconut oil and pumpkin until smooth. Add sucanat, honey and molasses and beat until smooth. Add egg and blend until smooth.

3. Mix in flour mixture by hand, using a large spoon or your hands. Fold in almonds, if using. (To toast the almonds, place in a skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.) I only had about 1/3 cup on hand, so that's all I used. Cover dough and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove about 1/4 of the dough from the bowl. Roll dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper until 1/4 inch thick. (I highly recommend using the parchment paper here.)

5. Cut with cookie cutters and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 9-10 minutes. Continue with remainder of dough, placing the dough back in the fridge briefly if it gets too sticky.

6. These can be decorated with icing, but the plain ones were "kid approved" so I didn't bother putting any icing on them.


I don't have nutritional info for this recipe simply because the number of cookies will vary. The recipe said it would make 48 cookies, but I made about 70! I know I was rolling the dough a bit thinner near the end, and my cookie cutters might have been smaller than what they used.

Enjoy! :)

Recipe Wednesday - Apple Quinoa Salad

I thought this recipe would make a good Thanksgiving side dish, or you could do what I did and have it for breakfast instead of oatmeal! I just threw this together one day because I thought it sounded good...and it was!

Apple Quinoa Salad

1/4 cup dry quinoa, rinsed and drained
2 Tablespoons red lentils, rinsed and drained
1 small to medium apple, cored and chopped
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
dash salt
1-2 packets sweetener, to taste
3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons water

1. Into a saucepan, add the quinoa, lentils, apple, salt, cinnamon and water. Place a lid on the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer (covered) for about 15 minutes, until all of the water is absorbed.

2. Remove from heat and add sweetener to taste. I ate this warm, but it probably would be good at room temperature or even cold.

This makes one bowlful. You'd probably want to double or triple the recipe for a crowd.


This entire recipe has approximately:

267 calories
10.4g protein
2.1g fat
56.1g carbs
10.1g fiber

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Recipe Wednesday - Peanut Butter Cups, Revisited

Sorry I haven't posted much recently. Things have been so busy!

Recently I gave the peanut butter cups another try, changing it up a little bit. These turned out awesome! I made mini peanut butter cups, which don't take as long in the freezer. :)

Mini Peanut Butter Cups

For the outside:
1 T whipped butter, softened (not melted)
1 T pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon coconut oil, softened (not melted)
2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
1 packet Splenda
1 packet Stevia

For the inside:
1 T natural peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon honey (I used sugar free)
1/2 teaspoon coconut oil

1. Mix all of the "outside" ingredients. It will seem like there is too much powder, but give it a minute.

2. In another bowl, mix all of the "inside" ingredients. I warmed this mixture slightly to make the next step easier.

3. Divide the peanut butter mixture into 4 parts. Place each part in a mini muffin paper, placed in an ice cube tray.

4. Divide the chocolate mixture over the 4 parts. Place in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.

How you want to share is up to you. :)


The entire recipe has approximately:

235 calories
5.3g protein
19.7g fat
11.6g carbs
6.6g fiber