Keep on Keepin on

February 9, 2010

Sunday afternoon we were at a pre-football party and someone brought a Jack Daniels ice cream pie. I swear, I have been dreaming about it the 40 hours since. Oreo crust held on by caramel to some kind of chunky ice cream goodness. I literally had only one bite of Brian’s, and then the whole pie was gone (because of the other people there, not because of me.)

Monday was nothing special. 22 mins on Stairmaster and full body weight workout. Lots of squats - with and without weights. Music during the workout was boring, but music at work included Yael Naim. You know one of her songs from TV. She has this blend of English, Hebrew and French that I like, because those are the languages I have dabbled in.

For dinner I made chicken fricassee for the first time. It did not have tomatoes or mushrooms, like some of the recipes I’ve seen online. My fingertips kinda smell like garlic still. Someone said to rub them with a half a lemon. Seems like a waste of lemon, it’ll wear off today I’m sure. It was quite tasty!

Tuesday (this morning) my lower neck/upper spine felt tight so I started with 25 mins of Yoga. (I have Yoga for Runners #1 from yogadownloads.com on my MP3) Then 1.5 miles on the treadmill. The girl next to me was doing a walk/run program and I wanted to ask her to keep running because we were at almost the same pace and it was motivating hearing her along side me. But I didn’t recognize her and didn’t want to freak her out. I focused a lot on obliques today at the end of the workout - side crunches on ball, diagonal on captain’s chair, bicycle crunches on floor, etc. Feelin’ tight!

Tonight is karate - we’re back in our forms unit. Wendy is excited! Forms are a series of movements we memorize in a specific order to learn proper form. They represent a fake fight. As you go up belt levels you need to learn harder forms as part of testing. Here’s a video of a beginner form - 2 tests ago for Wendy.

Do you use the Stairmaster? When I do, I add back kicks, side steps, skipping steps, etc. so I don’t feel like I’m just doing the same motion for a half hour. Do you mix up your Stairmaster workout? Let me know if you have ways to make it more exciting…

2010 goal update: 3300 crunches, 79 minutes of plank remaining.

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Cajun Jambalaya Pasta

February 5, 2010

Last night I made Cajun Jambalaya Pasta to have in the fridge for my busy weekend. It’s yummy!

Ingredients
butter
2 tspn Cajun spice mix (I made my own blend, and added Tabasco sauce.)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
½ cup clam juice

2 ounces green bell peppers, cut into thin strips
2 ounces red bell peppers, cut into thin strips
2 ounces yellow bell peppers, cut into thin strips
4 ounces red onions, cut into thin strips

(I bought a frozen bag of chopped peppers and onion for a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the prep time.)

½ pound fresh medium shrimp, peeled, de-veined, tails removed (I bought cooked shrimp already seasoned with Old Bay)
½ cup of diced tomatoes (I bought a can of diced tomatoes seasoned with garlic and onion)

1 lb fresh linguini pasta
Cooking Instructions:

1. Melt butter in a saute pan.

2. Add the seasoning and stir with the melted butter.

3. Add the chicken into the pan and continue to cook until the chicken is about half done.

4. Once the chicken starts cooking, place the pasta into boiling water and cook until al dente.

5. Add clam juice into the pan with the chicken

6. add the peppers and onions. Cook for another minute, making sure the vegetables are heated through and the chicken is almost done.

7. Add the shrimp and tomatoes into the pan. Toss the ingredients together and continue to cook until the shrimp are almost done.

8. Continue to cook mixture until both the shrimp and chicken are thoroughly cook through. Turn off heat but leave pan on hot burner for 5 mins.

9. Place some pasta into each bowl. Spoon equal portions of the jambalaya mixture into each bowl over the pasta.

I found this online but I don’t remember where. When I reheat this to eat it this weekend I’ll snap a photo.

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