Popovers

Last time I made pancakes, I discovered a recipe in my Cooking Light cookbook for "popovers" that looked delicious and I've been meaning to try it and finally found time today.  The picture in the book looks scrumptious and I was hoping that I could pull off something similar.  I was especially excited to see that there was no yeast involved since yeast and I don't really work so great together.  I had never had a popover, but I will say that they definitely worked out and this is a repeat recipe.  I think they would be really great with soup.

Ingredients:
1 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
1 c. milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 T. butter, melted
cooking spray
1 t. canola oil

Directions:
1. Combine flour and salt, stirring with a whisk. Combine milk and eggs in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk until blended; let stand 30 minutes.  Gradually add flour mixture, stirring well with a whisk.  Stir in butter.
2. Preheat oven to 375.
3. Coat muffin tin with cooking spray.  (The recipe said to brush canola oil evenly in cups to coat, but I didn't do this and mine worked great.) Place muffin tin in a 375 oven for 5 minutes. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups.  Bake at 357 for 35 minutes.  Serve immediately.
**Don't open the oven door to peak at popovers, use the oven light.  Opening the door may cause them to deflate.**

 

My popovers rose great.  They taste pretty good.  I should mention that they're TOTALLY hollow inside...just in case you were expecting a flaky biscuit/roll texture.  I will definitely make them again, especially when we have soup.

Kona's Valentines Day Party

We have the very best vet/dog school EVER!  Last Thursday, Kona had a Valentines/Birthday party at Mountain View Vet.  As you can see, he got to wear a birthday hat and he actually did wear it.  There was doggy ice cream, pupcakes, and even games.  He did awesome with the other dogs and I think he had fun.  He sure did love the pupcakes and the ice cream, but I think that his favorite part was watching the other dogs play...oh and greeting the other dogs.  I think its pretty amusing when the other dogs walk under him to check under the hood.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentines Day at our house was kinda fun and definitely interesting this year.  When we woke up, I gave Tim a card and reminded him that I didn't get him a gift.  He's SO hard to buy for because he always buys what he wants when he wants and I've tried doing the "cutesy" gifts and he just thinks they're lame, so this year I decided he could get a card.

However, he surprised me with some really great gifts!   I got this super cute workout shirt, which fits GREAT!  He said he thought I might want a new running shirt for the 1/2 marathon in May.

I also got this awesome North Face jacket.  I tried this jacket on weeks ago and really liked it, but couldn't justify buying it when I already have several jackets.  So, when I opened the box and found the jacket inside, I was totally surprised!  The jacket is warm and I love it!

After Tim pulled off a great Valentines gift, I felt like I needed to do something for him...more than a card.  I decided to make him a delicious dinner.  I hit Maceys and ended up with what I thought would be a great Valentines dinner. 

We started the evening off with a bottle of sparkling apple-blueberry juice.  I'm not a huge fan of sparkling grape or apple juice, but I have to say that the blueberries were amazing.  I even broke out our fancy glasses.

While the potatoes were cooking and the grill was warming up, I made our salad.  We were supposed to have everything ready at once, but we ran into some problems.  Our salad ended up being an appetizer.

At Maceys, I picked up some "chicken grillers" from the meat counter.  I asked one of the butchers how to cook them and he said, "Grill them for 15-20 minutes."  I asked if you flipped them and he said, "Yes."  So, while the mashed potatoes were cooking, Tim fired up the grill.  However, the grill didn't get warm.  He realized that the propane tank was empty, so he swapped that out.  Round 2...we put the chicken on the grill, waited 10 minutes, and then flipped them.  I should probably mention that a chicken griller consists of a bacon wrapped chicken breast stuffed with wild rice, mushrooms, and something else that I can't remember right now.  We pulled them off the grill and this is what they looked like...

Until I cut mine open and realized that there was raw chicken on the inside.  Round 3 on the grill...we cooked the chicken for another 15 minutes or so and then checked the inside with our meat thermometer.  Of course, my piece (because I cut it in half) was totally overdone.  Tim's was good, but also a little overcooked.

So, my nice romantic dinner was a complete disaster.  We would buy the chicken grillers again, but I think I would definitely check with a different butcher on the actual cooking method/time.  Oh, and I've pretty much decided that since I'm not doing so hot in the Valentines/romantic department, I'll just let Tim spoil me on Valentines Day.  :)

Downward Dog

For the past 4 weeks, I've been doing yoga at least once a week.  Sometimes, I even "get" to do it twice a week.  I'm learning to tolerate it and maybe even enjoy it, but I've learned that its WAY better to do yoga with friends.  Or Tim.  Or Kona.
 ,
Except that Kona thinks its really fun to bother me while I'm doing yoga.  I'm guessing its because I'm down on his level.  He licks me and tries to tip me over.  He tries to run under my legs and he has even laid down underneath me when I'm in a plank position.  He's a total clown, and I will admit that he does make me laugh while I'm trying to hold a half moon pose while he's leaning on me.  Anyone ever tried a half moon pose with a 120lb great dane leaning on them?

Anyways, the other night after my yoga workout, Kona decided he needed to lay on the yoga mat.  I should also mention that he does this often.  I guess its cushier than the carpet.  I thought that maybe I could get a picture of him doing "downward dog". 

Apparently, my camera is too slow, but this is what I came up with.

 

 So, if anyone is interested in a good, giant yoga buddy let me know.  I'll let you borrow him.  :)

 

P.S. Yes, Kona is as long as the yoga mat.   

Learning to Love the Treadmill

If someone would have asked me a month ago if I thought I might learn to enjoy a treadmill run, I'm pretty sure the answer would have been "NO WAY!" However, over the past month, I've learned to really enjoy my treadmill runs.  In fact, I've chosen to run on the treadmill instead of running outside multiple times.  That is something I never thought I would do.  Today, while I was running 7 miles on the treadmill in a really hot room, I started thinking about why I'm learning to LOVE the treadmill.

In the last couple of months, I've read a couple of articles in different magazines and online about the benefits of treadmill running.  The articles talk about improving form and cadence.  They also talk about monitoring effort and output and intensity.  I've thought about those articles and really, mostly I just thought they were relevant to professional athletes.  However, I think they may be right.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that they are right.

Here's what I've learned about loving the treadmill...

I push myself HARD on the treadmill.  I haven't had such great runs in years...literally years.  I'm fatter than I've been and I'm running faster than I have in years!  Today, my entire t-shirt was soaked...there wasn't a dry spot on it.  I'm pretty sure I could have wrung a cup of sweat out of that shirt.  I was running at puke pace with a smile on my face!  It feels SO good to push myself SO hard.

I can mentally challenge myself better on the treadmill.  I love the positive self-talk that rolls through my head when I'm pushing myself through some hard intervals. I love banking those hard runs and I'm certain that these mental challenges will absolutely pay off in my races.

I love the intervals I can do. There is something seriously cool and dare I say fun about bumping up the speed and pushing myself.  I think it's hard to run "a little bit faster" when I'm running outside.  I'm really loving the intervals.

I'm really getting into the numbers.  It's been great to see legitimate improvements in my runs and to especially see those improvements through actual data.  I'm running faster and my HR is staying the same, so I know my fitness is improving.  The numbers are definitely working for me.

How great is it that Tim and I can go running "together" and run at our own paces.  Tim and I do not run at the same speed, so running outside means that one of us has to run faster or slower to stay together.  When we're on the treadmill, we can run next to each other and do our own workouts.  Oh and Tim totally cheers me on and pushes me by reminding me of my goals, and yelling things out like "Bikini!"

When I'm running on the treadmill, I can totally focus on my running.  I don't have to think about dogs running out of yards or cars driving past me or stop signs and crosswalks.  I can totally get inside my head and pull things out of myself that I'm not sure I would pull out if I were running outside.

Mostly though, what I'm loving about these treadmill runs is that I'm running faster and harder than I have in a long time.  I'm totally feeling like a RUNNER again and I'm LOVING the feeling!

February Workouts

February 1 - KenpoX. 59:00. Burned 376 calories. Max HR 156. Avg HR 118.
CardioX. 41:57. Burned 284 calories. Max HR 155. Avg HR 122.
One of the complaints I have about P90X is that the "cardio" workouts do not burn enough calories, except for Plyometrics.  I would rather go run or cycle because I feel like I get a much better burn, plus I'm doing something that is specific to the sports I enjoy.  Kicking and punching...yeah...its just not something I see myself doing.

February 2 - Treadmill Run. 4.0 miles. 39:24. Burned 466 calories. Max HR 180. Avg HR 163.
5 min @ 5.7 mph
5 min @ 5.8 mph
1 min @ 6.5 mph - I realized I should be going faster so I bumped it up on the next set.
2 min @ 5.7 mph
1 min @ 6.7 mph
2 min @ 5.7 mph
1 min @ 6.7 mph
2 min @ 5.7 mph
1 min @ 6.7 mph
2 min @ 5.7 mph
1 min @ 6.7 mph
2 min @ 5.7 mph
1 min @ 6.7 mph
2 min @ 5.7 mph
1 min @ 6.7 mph
2 min @ 5.7 mph - I also realized that I probably should have been recovering at 6.0 mph.
1 min @ 6.7 mph
2 min @ 6.0 mph
1 min @ 6.2 mph
1 min @ 6.4 mph
1 min @ 6.6 mph
1 min @ 6.8 mph
I'm feeling really good about my running lately.  I think my speed is definitely improving.  I'm able to go faster without my HR going up.  I'm recovering quickly.  I'm really loving these high intensity workouts.
StretchX. 57:01. Burned 239 calories. Max HR 135. Avg HR 101.

February 3 - Core Synergistics. 57:59 Burned 370 calories. Max HR 159. Avg HR 118.  Used 5, 8, and 10 lb dumbbells.
This was one of those days when I waited for Tim to workout with me and he decided to have a rest day.  I thought about adding another workout to this one, but I also knew that I had a run workout on Saturday, so I just took it as a great core workout.


February 4 - Treadmill Run. 7.0 miles. 1:09:43. Burned 845 calories. Max HR 186. Avg HR 166.
5 min @ 5.7 mph
5 min @ 6.1 mph
5 min @ 5.7 mph
4 min @ 6.3 mph
4 min @ 5.7 mph
3 min @ 6.5 mph
3 min @ 5.7 mph
2 min @ 6.7 mph
2 min @ 5.7 mph
1 min @ 7.0 mph
5 min @ 5.7 mph
5 min @ 6.1 mph
5 min @ 5.7 mph
4 min @ 6.3 mph
4 min @ 5.7 mph
3 min @ 6.5 mph
3 min @ 5.7 mph
2 min @ 6.7 mph
2 min @ 5.7 mph
1 min @ 7.0 mph
45 sec @ 6.0 mph
15 sec @ 6.1 mph
15 sec @ 6.2 mph
15 sec @ 6.3 mph
15 sec @ 6.4 mph
15 sec @ 6.5 mph
This was an AWESOME run!  I can't remember the last time I ran 7 miles and I especially can't remember when I ran 7 miles in under 10 min/mile pace.  I did have to talk myself through this workout.  I didn't want to run but once I got going, I mentally talked through each mile.  There was not a dry spot on my t-shirt when I finished and I have forgotten how my legs feel when I run long and hard, but I feel great.  It's nice to know I still have some speed left in me.

February 5 - Rest.

February 6 - Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps. 1:01:52. Burned 327 calories. Max HR 143. Avg HR 109. Used 3, 5, 8, 10, 15, and 20 lb dumbbells.  I'm hoping that I'll like this workout better next week.  I worked hard, but I sometimes think I need to do a workout once or twice before I can really know how hard I need to work.
Trainer Ride. 32:00. Burned 212 calories. Max HR 139. Avg HR 119. Since I signed up for Little Red, I need to get back on Oscar.  Apparently, I have lost my saddle calluses.  That means I need to spend lots more time on the bike before June.

February 7 - Jari Love Get Extremely Ripped 1000. 1:23:46. Burned 744 calories Max HR 188. Avg HR 139. Used 5,8,10 lb dumbbells.
Treadmill Run. 29:32. Burned 311 calories. Max HR 178. Avg HR 160.

February 8 - Back and Biceps. 24:39. Burned 128 calories. Max HR 149. Avg HR 109. Used 10 and 15 lb dumbbells.  Tim and I didn't get to finish this workout, so we finished it the next day.
Ultimate Calorie Blaster. 45:59. Burned 367 calories. Max HR 165. Avg HR 131. Used 8 lb dumbbells.

February 9 - Back and Biceps. 45:35. Burned 237 calories. Max HR 158. Avg HR 108. Used 10 and 15 lb dumbbells.

February 10 - Rest.

February 11 - Treadmill Run. 59:51. 6 miles. Burned 645 calories. Max HR 175. Avg HR 155.
5 min @ 5.7 mph
5 min @ 6.0 mph
5 min @ 5.7 mph
4 min @ 6.2 mph
4 min @ 5.7 mph
3 min @ 6.5 mph
3 min @ 5.7 mph
2 min @ 6.7 mph
2 min @ 5.7 mph
1 min @ 7.0 mph
1 min @ 5.7 mph
4 min @ 5.8 mph
5 min @ 6.1 mph
5 min @ 5.8 mph
4 min @ 6.3 mph
4 min @ 5.8 mph
3 min @ 6.5 mph

February 12 - Rest.

February 13 - Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps. 57:09. Burned 390 calories. Max HR 148. Avg HR 122. Used 5, 8, 10, 15 lb dumbbells.
Legs and Back. 58:19. Burned 486 calories. Max HR 166. Avg HR 135. Used 10, 15 lb dumbbells.

February 14 - Jari Love - Get Ripped Slim and Lean. 1:06:34. Burned 411 calories. Max HR 159. Avg HR 116. Used 5,8,10, 15 lb dumbbells.

February 15 - Rest.

February 16- Back and Biceps. 53:06. Burned 356 calories. Avg HR 163. Avg HR 121. Used 10,15,20 lb dumbbells.

February 17 - Treadmill Run. 3.1 miles. 30:52. Burned 380 calories. Max HR 181. Avg HR 167.
5 min @ 5.7 mph
5 min @ 5.8 mph
5 min @ 5.9 mph
5 min @ 6.0 mph
2 min @ 6.1 mph
2 min @ 6.2 mph
2 min @ 6.3 mph
2 min @ 6.4 mph
2 min @ 6.5 mph

February 18 - Rest.

February 19 - Rest.

February 20 - Legs and Back. 1:00:48. Burned 511 calories. Max HR 167. Avg HR 136. Used 10, 15 lb dumbbells. I felt so pukey and tired during this workout. 

2012 Races

Earlier this year, I was talking with Tim about how I was missing doing races.  Last year, I think I only did a few events and I realized that I really miss racing and training.  So, because he's such an awesome hubby, he's been encouraging me to sign up for races and making sure that we have the $$$ in the budget so I can race like I like to.

I haven't really come up with my race schedule for the year, but I am registered for 3 big events.  Here they are!

May 19 - Ogden 1/2 Marathon

June 2 - Little Red Riding Hood Century Ride

September 8 - Bear Lake Brawl 1/2 Ironman

Like I said, I haven't decided what else I would like to do, but I'm kind of toying with doing the Top of Utah 1/2 Marathon, but I think it's just a week or two before the 1/2 IM, so that probably won't happen.  However, there are lots of other options.  I'm just excited to get back into racing.

January Results

Since it's the first day of February, it was time for Tim and I to weigh in and do our measurements.  We're on week 4 of P90X.  We didn't take any pictures, but we did do our stats.  Tim is doing awesome and is losing and gaining in all of the right spots.

I've been feeling a bit discouraged because the scale doesn't seem to be moving much for me.  However, today, I'm down 7 lbs since January 1 and I have lost 9 inches!  I lost 2 1/2 inches off my hips!  I'll definitely take that.  Oh and I'm looking forward to all of the February workouts to see how much more we can lose!