tuesday ramblings.

Hey! How was your weekend? Yes, I know it's Tuesday.

Mine was good, thanks. We had dinner with Melissa and her family on Saturday! We enjoyed a really yummy taco soup she graciously made us! He family is just fabulous. I mean her kids are THE sweetest! She is also fantastic! :) I NEVER ever thought I would meet and make friends through blogging. I'm glad I was wrong.



Sunday was filled with a wind storm. For real. 35 mph winds with 50 mph gusts?? Hello, allergies. It was seriously so hazy outside. Ew.

In other unimportant news, I want this top.

Since stopping my Elavil, I have seen a noticeable change with my body. I am actually getting results from my workouts and diet (no, I'm not on a diet, I'm talking about healthy eating habits). My cravings for carbs and sweets has decreased and my energy has increased. I go in phases of practically making all of my meals from scratch to occasionally cutting corners and buying packaged items, like Clif MoJo Bars. I went a few weeks eating Amy's Frozen meals at lunch, so I decided to take a break from them and switch my focus back to clean eating. I switched up my workouts as well, I always need something new!

What have I been eating?

Breakfast
Fiber One Shredded Wheat
Horizon 0% Organic Milk
1/2 cup Blackberries

Mid-Morning Snack
2 Tablespoons Hummus
Baby Carrots
While Grain Pretzel Chips

Lunch
Low Sodium Turkey and Reduced Fat Cheddar Melt on Whole Grain Sandwich Thin
Organic Mixed Greens Salad with Tomatoes, Broccoli, Carrots, and Balsamic Vinegar
Chobani 0% Black Cherry Yogurt (yesterday it was pineapple)

Afternoon Snack
Banana
100 Calorie Pack Walnuts and Almonds (unsalted)
1 Babybel Light Cheese

Dinner 
Last night I had homemade Chicken Noodle Soup (look for the recipe soon)
Tonight? Not sure.

Post Workout Snack
Whole Grain Sandwich Thin
1 Tablespoon Organic Peanut Butter

What have I been doing?

Chest/Triceps (last night)

Wide Pushups 12 reps/3 sets
Dumbbell Bench Press 12 reps/12#/3 sets
Dumbbell Flys 12 reps/12#/3 sets
Close Triceps Pushups 12 reps/3 sets
Dumbbell Standing Triceps Extension 12 reps/12#/3 sets
Triceps Kickbacks 12 reps/12#/3 sets

Apple Cinnamon Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

 

I made this coffee cake for Christmas morning breakfast (hence the lack of prep photos). Cream cheese and apples? Sign me up. The bake time is a little lengthy, but I thought it was well worth it. This makes plenty and would be perfect for company!

I used half butter, half cinnamon sugar spread. If you don’t have cinnamon sugar spread available, just use butter in its place. You can never go wrong with more butter.

Apple Cinnamon Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Prep Time: 25 minutes


Bake: 350 degrees for 55 minutes


Cool: 5 minutes


Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients:

4 cups apples, peeled & thinly sliced
2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup Land O’Lakes Cinnamon Sugar Butter Spread
12 ounces cream cheese (low fat works), at room temperature
1 cup granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk (nonfat works)

TOPPING:
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 Tablespoons flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 13x9-inch pan.

Place apple slices in bowl and drizzle lemon juice on top. Toss to coat. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine butter and cream cheese; add in sugar, and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in extract.

Sift dry ingredients into a separate bowl (flour, baking powder, soda & salt)

Add flour mixture to creamed mixture a little at a time, alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture; mix well after each addition.

Pour batter into prepared baking pan.

Combine topping ingredients in a small bowl. Sprinkle the topping over the apple slices and toss lightly to coat well. Arrange the apple slices evenly on top of the batter in the pan.

Bake 50 to 60 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Please visit my link parties page to see who I linked up with this week!

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Also, have you heard about the upcoming Find Some Love Fest? Grab the button and meet back here February 1st!

Week 1: Day 5

Wow. Its Friday! I had one of those weeks where I thought it was Wednesday on Tuesday...ya know what I mean?


This weekend, we have plans to go "see the Christmas lights." This means going to a huge Christmas lights display about 20 minutes from us. And I am getting together with all of the women in my family for our annual "bake-off." My grandmother started this tradition before I was born (I think) and we have carried the tradition on. Its a day full of baking and belly aches from too much chocolate. We package everything up and give them as gifts to our family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. I will take lots of photos to share!

I will probably do tonight's workout 5 times in a row so I can start with a huge calorie deficit for the bake-off....just kidding. That's super psycho and unhealthy. You might recognize this routine from Tuesday!

Oh, P.S. I now have 91 GFC followers! When did that happen?? That is amazing. And I'm at 3,593 page views just from TODAY! What?? I feel so blessed. I find myself so not interesting...this is my awkward way of saying thank you to YOU! My fabulous readers!!!





Week 1: Day 5

30 minutes cardio

Upper Legs 

Exercise	Rest	Reps	Sets
Iron Cross	1 minute	12	1
Iron Cross	1 minute	10	1
Iron Cross	1 minute	8	1
Iron Cross	1 minute	6	1
Dumbbell Lunges	None	12	1
Iron Cross	2 min	12	1

Exercise	Rest	Reps	Sets
Dumbbell Squat	1 minute	12	1
Dumbbell Squat	1 minute	10	1
Dumbbell Squat	1 minute	8	1
Dumbbell Squat	1 minute	6	1
Dumbbell Walking Lunges	None	12	1
Dumbbell Squat	2 min	12	1

Lower Legs

Exercise	Rest	Reps	Sets
Rocking Standing Calf Raise*	1 minute	12	1
Rocking Standing Calf Raise*	1 minute	10	1
Rocking Standing Calf Raise*	1 minute	8	1
Rocking Standing Calf Raise*	1 minute	6	1
Calf Raise on a Dumbbell	None	12	1
Rocking Standing Calf Raise*	2 min	12	1

*Use 2 dumbbells instead of a barbell 

5 Minute Apple Crisp for One

What I am about to share with you is very dangerous.




But not as dangerous as my brownie for one…not to be mistaken by the brownie in a mug, gross.

I think that for those of us who love Fall, we can excitedly say we love cinnamon. Maybe that’s just me. So when I found myself craving a warm cinnamon dessert this evening, I headed for the pantry. I cheat a little with a can of apple pie filling I already had on hand, but you can certainly use fresh apples (see below). This recipe was just a spur of the moment dish and is no culinary art by any means…but it gets the job done.

5 Minute Apple Crisp for One

Prep: 5 minutes (duh!)
Makes: One serving of apple crisp

1/4 cup apple pie filling or

Fresh Filling:

1 apple, peeled and thickly sliced

3 tablespoons sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon cornstarch

Crisp Topping:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons oats

1 teaspoon cinnamon




In a microwave safe bowl, add canned pie filling and cover with a paper towel before microwaving for one minute. Or if you would like to make the filling from scratch follow these directions-In a small mixing bowl combine sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cornstarch. Add sliced apples and with your hand, massage the dry ingredients into the slices until all the dry mix is used up.  Place apple mixture in a microwavable cereal bowl, cover with plastic wrap (folding some of it back to vent it), and microwave for 4 minutes



Meanwhile, in a small pan melt the butter and add remaining ingredients. Stirring continuously for 3 minutes until fully cooked/fried. Watch the pan carefully as this crumble topping will burn easily!

Please visit my link parties page to see who I linked up with this week! 

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Weekend and a blogger feature! {Sincerely, Kylee}

Happy Weekend! I hope you have a fun filled one planned! 

Me? I'll be spending time with this guy.

I usually don't blog on the weekends because, well...I sit in front of a computer 45 hours a week and the thought of adding to that makes my eyes hurt. Really. Don't misunderstand me though, I love hearing from you. No matter the day or time. I strive to respond to each and every comment or question you leave. That being said, I hope to hear from all of you! 

Anyway...

LOVE IT. 

A beautiful woman and fellow blogging Okie wrote a beautiful post and prayer{here} that really spoke to my heart. The promptings of God through my relationship with Jesus is the number one reason I blog. Its not to gain a million followers, make money, or brag about myself. It is to document my relationship with Jesus and all that I have been blessed with. She has some wonderful talents and graciously extended them to make me my own button!

Now, head on over to see Kylee at Sincerely, Kylee and discover the great things she and her blog have to offer you! GO!

In hopes of a short summer.

I had a good weekend. So much so that when my alarm went off this morning, I thought "That's not right...its the weekend. I need to check my alarm settings!" Silly, silly me.

Friday was a rest day. Saturday I met the husband at Wal-Mart for a little grocery shopping. Am I the only one that leaves Wal-Mart exhausted? Anyway, I made my way to Hobby Lobby and The Health Food Store. Don't worry, Whole Paycheck Foods will be finished in October. Not saying I will shop there, its a bit out of the way for me. Meanwhile, my business is going to The Health Food Store.

I'm DYING for Fall to get here. D-Y-I-N-G. Its been over 100 degrees for over 50 days now. That just seems a little excessive. Not to mention the Hob Lob had 50% off all fall wreaths and garlands. I've been stockpiling Fall decorating ideas over on Pintrest. P.S. That site is like crack. So I grabbed a few things to get a head start!

This is for a wreath I hope to make.

Fake Pumpkin. The tag says you can actually carve it!  I have other plans for it.

Pumpkins, gourds, and such.

Glitter! So much glitter!

Garland! 

I have high hopes of using those supplies for some of these projects: