Sweat-Through-Everything Jump Rope Circuit

First things first...let's get our sweat on!  Yesterday morning I was in not a mood required for runnin' so I needed to mix things up.  After the epic spring months filled with FOUR half marathons in 8 teeny weeks, things are feeling tight and tender.  And so was born the sweat-through-everything Jump Rope Circuit!

Strength moves are performed as supersets.  2 strength moves, 10 reps and 2 sets of each make up a superset, and we jump rope for 1 minute before the next superset.  So, for example in super set #1, you would knock out 10 shoulder raises, 10 chest presses, 10 shoulder raises, and finally 10 chest presses.  Then jump rope for one minute and move onto superset #2.  Easy peasy, right?  Lets get a move on then!

Sweat-Through-Everything Jump Rope Circuit

Jump Rope:  1 minute

Stability Ball Supersets (Perform all exercises on the stability ball)
Superset #1
Shoulder Raises
Chest Press

Jump Rope:  1 Minute

Superset #2
Knee Tucks
Hamstring Curl

Jump Rope:  1 Minute

Superset #3
Push-ups (feet on stability ball)
Plank - 1 Minute (forearms on stability ball)

Jump Rope:  1 Minute

Superset #4
Wall Squats
Foot to Hand Ball Pass

Jump Rope:  1 Minute

No-Stability Ball Supersets (put the ball away and say an Amen!)
Super Set #5
Bridge with Leg Pulse (30 seconds each leg)
Bicep Curl

Jump Rope:  1 Minute

Superset #6
Lunge Matrix
Lateral Raises

Jump Rope:  1 Minute

Superset #7
Mountain Climbers
In-and-Outs

Jump Rope:  1 Minute

Superset #8
Side Plank with hip drop
Push-ups

Jump Rope:  1 Minute

This circuit took me about 45 minutes with some fartin' around between sets (such as to take a sweaty picture).  I rested about 15 seconds before and after each jump rope but tried my best to smoothly transition between strength moves. 

HOPEFULLY SOON I'LL BE ABLE TO TALK THE HUSBAND INTO TAKE PHOTOS FOR EXAMPLES OF EACH MOVE...then I'll spend the next 10 days explaining to him that I am not a lunatic!

Simplicity

Simple.  Easy.  Delicious.  Whole. 

An entire dinner with only several ingredients. 

Simple Dinner
Serves 3-4 people
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 40 Minutes

Oven Baked Potato Wedges

4-5 red potatoes
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh dill
kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Wash and dry potatoes.  Cut into wedges (I cut them into 8 wedges per potato).  Place potatoes in a bowl and pour olive oil over top. Add chopped dill and salt and pepper to taste.  Stir up to evenly coat potatoes.  Place parchment paper on a baking sheet and lay out potatoes in a single layer.  Bake wedges for 35-40 minutes until potatoes are golden brown, turning potatoes half way through.

Lemon and Dill Cod

1 pound cod fillets
2 tablespoons fresh dill
2 lemons
kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a 9x13 glass pan with cooking spray.  Lay fillets in a single layer in pan.  Squeeze the juice from 1 lemon over the top of fillets.  Finely chop dill and sprinkle over fillets evenly and add salt and pepper to taste.  Slice last lemon into thin slices and lay over top of fillets.  Bake fillets 15-20 minutes (depending on thickness) until fillets flake apart when you insert a fork into the fillet and lightly twist. 

Butter Braised Cabbage

1/3 head red cabbage
1 tablespoon butter (or earth balance)
salt and pepper to taste

Heat a large skillet pan over medium heat.  Thinly slice cabbage (about 1/8" - 1/4" thick).  Melt butter in bottom of pan and add cabbage.  Season with salt and pepper.  Stirring every few minutes, cook cabbage until it cooks down by about 1/2 (should take you about 10-15 minutes).  Be careful not to burn cabbage (turn down heat if needed.) Cabbage should be soft when done. 

THE Chewiest Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever...

Let's talk chocolate chip cookies for a minute.  A person's CCC (chocolate chip cookie) preference is as personal as their preference in underwear styles!  There's chewy, crispy, crunchy, nutty, chocolate overload, over baked, under baked, flat, big and fat...so so many options!  I personally am totally in the chewy, under baked, and fat camp! 

If you'd like to pull up your sleeping bag next to me at chewy fat CCC camp then THIS is the recipe for you! 

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes: 2-3 dozen depending on size
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Baking Time: 9 minutes/pan

3/4 cup salted butter, softened to room temp
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 granulated sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips (I used 1/2 cup milk chocolate chocolate chips, 1/2 cup M & M's on this batch!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  The oven rack should be positioned in the middle of your oven.

In your stand mixer bowl (if you don't have one...totally invest in one!) with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar about 1-2 minutes until it is light and fluffy.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat in.

Add in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt.  Mix until everything is just combined in.

Fold in chocolate chips and/or M & M's with a spatula, scraping bottom of bowl to make sure no bits are left at the bottom of the bowl.

Using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop, drop cookies onto an ungreased baking sheet making sure that the cookie dough was packed in there good so that the dough is in ball form (this helps make them big and CHEWY!).  Bake about 9 minutes, making sure to pull out cookies as soon as cookies start to brown on the edges for optimal chewiness.  Let them cool for a few minutes on the pan before removing with a spatula so they don't squish when removing.  Place on parchment paper and allow to fully cool before placing them in a storage container (if that is you haven't devoured the entire batch BEFORE they cool)...

Easy Pineapple Cupcakes

These cupcakes have only 5 ingredients for the cupcakes and frosting AND have only 135 calories per cupcake!  I do try to make baked goods from scratch, but sometimes I need a simple quick recipe for last minute birthday celebrations!  (Not that I would EVER forget someones birthday...)  I've seen a lot of the recipes for low calorie cake using a can of soda, but have never tried it since I don't drink soda.  So when I saw this recipe using a can of fruit (!) I thought I'd give 'er a whirl.  I was really surprised how light and fluffy the cupcakes turned out and the frosting was super tasty! 

Easy Pineapple Cupcakes
Makes 24 cupcakes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 18-20 minutes

For the cake:

15.25 ounce package of yellow cake mix (I used Betty Crocker Super Moist)
20 ounce can crushed pineapple in juice (do not drain)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add cake mix and pineapple to a large bowl and beat with a mixer on high for 2 minutes.  Put liners in standard size muffin tins.  Fill each cup 2/3 full with cake batter.

Bake cupcakes for 15-20 minutes, until tops are slightly golden and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of a cupcake.

For the frosting:
8 ounces 1/3 less fat cream cheese
20 ounce can crushed pineapple, drained well!
3/4 cup marshmellow fluff
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Drain pineapple well!  I used a mesh strainer and pushed pineapple down with my hand until no other liquid came out.  You could also use cheese cloth...but I was out.

Add all ingredients in a large bowl and beat with a mixer until combined and smooth, about 1 - 2 minutes. 

Spread frosting on cooled cupcakes...about 1 1/2 tablespoons of frosting per cupcake.  Garnish cupcakes with whatever  you'd like!  I thought the strawberries were cute and added to the nice tropical theme.

*I'm starting to wonder if this recipe will work with smashed strawberries also.  I'll report back if I end up making them!

Black Bean and Corn Patties

Quick and easy weeknight dinners are a must have some nights.  With the kids in basketball, dance, golf and school we are away from home more then not it feels like.  I'd rather not hit up drive-thru on late nights, so I have several go to recipes that come together quickly when hunger strikes!

Black Bean and Corn Patties

makes 8 servings (or 6 really big patties)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

2 cans black beans - drained and rinsed

1 ear corn - kernels removed from cob

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

2 eggs - lightly beaten

1/2 red pepper, chopped into small pieces

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon chipolte powder

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and stir to thoroughly distribute spices and eggs.  Using a potato masher, lightly mash mixture until only half of the beans are still whole. 

Press desired amount of bean mix with your hands into patty form.  Make sure patties are compact so they don't break apart when cooking.  I used a 1/2 cup of bean mix for each patty. 

Heat a large frying pan to medium high heat.  Once pan is hot, coat with cooking spray and place patties in pan.  Cook until patties have a golden crust and then flip to other side.  Total cook time is about 4 minutes on each side. 

Serve with delicious toppings such as avocado, pickles, tomato and lettuce.  (post picture I doused this thing with spicy mustard too!)

Enjoy and have a great night!! 

Beating Treadmill BOREDOM: Play with Speed

(source)



Many days, the thought of getting on the treadmill is enough to send me running straight back to bed.  Putting on my running shoes and heading outside is easy.  My motivation to hit the pavement, tour the town, running on my favorite bike paths, never wanes.  I love breathing the fresh air, taking deep breaths and absorbing all it has to offer into my lungs.  I especially love Spring, when the apple and cherry trees are blossoming.  The light floral scent makes me want to roll around under the trees mid-run. 

The dreadmill treadmill is never as welcoming, no matter where you place it.  A treadmill can be a great tool.  It helped me learn pacing and helped me be able to judge my pace by how I felt.  It helped me run faster too...but that doesn't mean I like it!  I've learned a few tricks along the way to help make time fly by on the treadmill that I'd like to share! 

Do Interval Runs:

I like doing intervals on the treadmill because I don't think I'd be able to push myself enough on the pavement to get to top speed over and over again.  And by consistently changing the speed on your treadmill it breaks up your run, I'm always watching the clock in 2 minute segments instead of waiting for a whole 30 minutes to pass and completely tuning out.

There are two different ways I do intervals, one based on speed and one based on hills. 

An interval based on speed looks like this (these are the speed I do them at, you can adjust the speed either faster or slower depending on where your at!)

Minutes         Speed

0-3:00                 3.5

3:01 - 4:30          5.0

4:31 - 5:00          8.2

5:01 - 6:30          5.0

6:31 - 7:00          8.2

7:01 - 8:30          5.0

8:30 - 9:00          8.2

9:01 - 10:30        5.0

10:31 - 11:00      8.2

11:01 - 12:30      5.0

12:31 - 13:00      8.2

13:01 - 14:30      5.0

14:31 - 15:00      8.2

15:01 - 16:30      5.0

16:31 - 17:00      8.2

17:01 - 19:30      5.0

19:31 - 20:00      8.2

20:01 - 21:30      5.0

21:31 - 22:00      8.2

22:01 - 23:30      5.0

23:31 - 24:00      8.2

24:00 - 25:30      5.0

25:31 - 26:00      8.2

26:00 - 30:00      3.5

This workout ALWAYS turns me into a hot mess!  These days, my comfortable "just out for an easy jog" pace is about 5.7 mph.  So those 30 seconds at 8.2 leave me huffin' and puffin'! 

(At the top of the Biggest LONGEST STEEPEST Hill I've ever tried to run up.  What a cruel place to take a race photo!)

My interval workout based on hillllllllllllllllllllls is a hot mess too...but in a different way.  Sometimes at the end of the 30 minutes I can't decide if I hate the slow hills more or the increased speed more!!

Minutes        Speed        Incline

0-1                 3.5             0

2-3                 5.2             3

4-5                 6.0             0

6-7                 5.2             3

8-9                 6.0             0

10-11             5.2             3

12-13             6.0             0

14-15             5.2             3

16-17             6.0             0

18-19             5.3             3

20-21             6.2             0

22-23             5.3             3

24-25             6.2             0

26-30             3.5             0

Playing with speed is a great way to get your mind off the clock, keep you engaged in your run, and keep your mind from drifting to la-la land and leaving you with a potential "junk" run. 

Even if my run is on the dreadmill treadmill...when its all done, I've never regretted the feeling of a run when its all done! 

A Day of Food: Workout Day

Ah...its Saturday!  That means time to hit the gym for 9:00 am Body Blast!  This class is a combination of weight lifting and short but intense cardio bursts.  We do squats, lunges, high steps, mountain climbers, sprints, burpees (oh...junior high gym class flashbacks!!) and tons of other stuff all mixed together!  The teach does such a great job of mixing cardio spurts and strength training to raise and lower your heart rate that I'm sweating for a full hour!  Typically, I burn about 350 - 400 calories during class.  This means, I aim to eat an additional 350ish calories on days I go to class so that I maintain a steady net calorie intake every day. 

Breakfast:
Savory Oats with oats, spinach, mushrooms, cheddar cheese and an over-easy egg
Calories: 300ish

After workout treat:
Small Skim Latte (Protein!)
Calories: 100

Lunch:
Turkey Stuffed Red Pepper, Blueberry Salad and a slice of rosemary bread
Calories: 500ish

Afternoon Snack:
Spinach and Parmesan Stuffed Mushrooms (3 total, I inhaled 1 1/2 before I remembered to take a picture!)
Calories: 150ish

Dinner:

Chicken Tortilla Soup and a Black Bean and Rice Enchilada (Everything was made from scratch!)

Calories: 500ish

After Dinner Snack (unpictured because 1. I ate it too fast and 2. it had melted and refroze in a not so cute fashion)

Calories: 80

So, I ended my day with about 1650ish calories less the 350 burned in class leaves 1300 net calories, which is a tad but low from where I should have ended the day, but most of the day was spent visiting a friend instead of home with my favorite munchies.