Saturday, May 3, 2014

Awesome Circuit without the gym

I found this 13 minute workout and wanted to make sure I kept it close. It's actually really good and I can feel it after only a very short time.   Perform all for 60 seconds each.

1. Still Arm Hold

Keep your hands at your sides, facing your body.
Raise both arms away from your sides like a bird in flight, keeping a slight bend in the elbows and arms no higher than your shoulders. Hold your arms strong (no sagging shoulders!). You should be able to draw a straight line from fingertip to fingertip.
Hold and maintain posture throughout.


2. Alternating Kicks
Stand in mountain pose with your feet hip-width apart, abs tight.
Kick your right leg out in front of your body and at the same time raise your left arm.
Alternate right leg, left arm-left leg, right arm, keeping legs below the hips as you kick and arms below shoulder height as you reach.


3. Butterfly
Stand  feet hip-width apart.
Raise arms with your elbows out to the side and palms facing forward.
This should look like a goal post.
Make a fist and slowly bring your elbows in to touch with knuckles facing away from your face. You should be able to see your manicure.

4. Knee Lifts

Stand  feet hip-width apart.
Lift your right knee as high as you can, but don't go past your waist. Hold for 5 seconds, then lower it. Alternate knees. Stay tall and keep your abs engaged and hips squared.



5. Arm Reach March
March in place.
While marching in place reach both arms up toward the ceiling as you draw in your abs.
Lower arms to shoulder height and reach out to the sides
 Alternate reaching both arms up and out while marching


6. Biceps Curl
Stand  feet hip-width apart knees slightly bent and weights in each hand. Hold your arms against your sides with your palms facing inward.
Hold your tummy in, and keeping your elbows close to your sides, curl your forearms toward your shoulders so that you can see your manicure. Pause for a second, and then gradually lower your weights back to their starting position.




7. Modified Jumping Jack.
Stand  feet hip-width apart.

Step one foot out to the side and tap. At the same time, raise your arms above your head and clap. Return to the starting position and alternate side to side at a steady pace.



8. Sit and Lean
Sit on the edge of a chair, feet hip-width apart, with your abs engaged and your shoulders relaxed.

Raise your left arm above your head and slowly lean to the right until you feel mild tension on your side. Don't lift your butt from the chair or lean forward or backward. Hold for 30 seconds. Return to the upright position.
Switch to the other side. Hold for 30 seconds.




9. Sit and Stand
Sit in the middle of a sturdy chair without arms.

Keep your feet flat on the floor with hands on your thighs closer to your knees.

 Lean forward, so that your nose is over your toes, then stand up.

Bend at your hips and slowly lower your weight down while reaching back with your butt and sit back down.





10. Jog Easy in Place
Stand tall and walk moderately in place.

Move to a quicker speed by lifting your feet only an inch or two off the floor for 20 seconds.

Swing your arms from your hips to your shoulders as you jog easy.

Alternate 10 seconds of brisk walking and 20 seconds of easy jogging for a total of 60 seconds.

Feel free to walk forward and back or around the couch or wherever your walk takes you. Then walk to thehall.




11. Wall Pushups


Stand facing a wall with your feet slightly apart and your knees slightly bent. Extend your arms in front of you to the wall with your elbows slightly bent. Keep your abs tight.

Lean forward slightly and place your palms against the wall. Bend your elbows until your nose nearly touches the wall. Push back out to the starting position. (If it is too hard to get your nose to the wall, go a quarter of the way.)




12. Leg Lifts Abduction

Stand  feet hip-width apart. Touch only if you need to balance.
Raise your left leg out to the side in a smooth movement while balancing on your standing leg, and return. (No leaning to the side; keep abs tight.) Do 10 times on the same leg.
Switch legs and continue on the other side.



For 3 minutes, march slowly to lower your heart rate. (Change your tunes to a slower tempo.)

Monday, April 28, 2014

Ewenique Yarn

This year Easter was a little different it was spent together as our family of two.  I still had a fun day and had to dye eggs and have a nice breakfast when we got up in the morning.

But one thing came out of this day, I saw all of the leftover egg dye and thought wow I know what I can do with that dye.  Why not make some pretty yarn. So I did! 
I still don't know what I'm going to do with it yet so it may sit in my stash for a little while.  But I really can't wait to use it because it's so pretty.



Starting yarn

Naked Yarn ready for the dye

The Dye

In the dye

Out of the bath

 Drying in the sun
All rolled up

Final Product

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

It's cookie baking season and I was making chocolate crinkle cookies and Gooey Butter cookies and thought why couldn't I make lemon crinkle cookies so that is just what I did.

1 box Yellow Cake mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 package of lemon pudding mix
1 cup Powdered sugar (set aside)

Heat oven to 375°F

In large bowl, stir dry cake mix, oil, eggs and pudding until dough forms. (You can use a spoon, I used my mixer)

Refrigerate dough 15 to 30 minutes, or as needed for easier handling. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in powdered sugar.

Place balls about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 12 minutes or until set. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack.

ENJOY

Makes approx 4 dozen cookies.


Saturday, November 9, 2013

Roasted Butternut Squash and Onion Bread Pudding


This recipe was all about leftovers and for me the leftovers were old bagels.  I had about 5 onion bagels left that I didn't know what I was going to do with, so in my mind I know I always make a bread pudding whenever I have leftover bagels so I thought why couldn't I make a savory bread pudding?  And thanks to Pinterest I came out with this awesome recipe.

Ingredients:

1 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into ½” cubes (about 2 cups)
1 medium onion, thin sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbl. olive oil
½ tsp. thyme
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
1 tsp ground sage
1 cup lowfat milk (1%)
6 eggs
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (divided)
¼ tsp. pepper
8 cups (1-inch) cubed day-old bagels or crusty bread

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line shallow baking pan with foil, spray with cooking spray.

Toss butternut squash, onion, garlic, thyme, salt & pepper in olive oil and spread in single layer on baking sheet. Roast for 20 – 25 minutes until very tender.

(One thing I will mention as a helpful hint, before I cup up the squash I will throw it in the microwave for 5 minutes to soften it up, it makes life so much easier when you try to cut up the squash.)

Spread bread cubes onto a baking sheet and toast along with squash mixture for 8-10 minutes until cubes are firm and crunchy.

Whisk together milk, eggs, 1/2 cup shredded cheese, pepper and nutmeg and sage.

In a large bowl milk/egg mixture, and roasted veggies with bread cubes.

Pour into a 2 Qt. baking dish and bake 40 – 45 minutes until pudding is set and top is lightly browned. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving

Friday, July 26, 2013

Rainbow Cake

I tried my first rainbow cake.  I loved the way it came out and it tastes delicious!

Here is how it went down.









































Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Pineapple Chicken



I promise I will add a real picture next time I make it.  But I promise it's delicious and will be a go to dish.

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 tbsp chopped garlic (to taste)
1 tsp dried ginger
1 bell pepper cubed (I use red/green)
1 cup chopped onion
1 tsp crushed red chili pepper flakes, (optional or to taste)
1 can pineapple chunks in juice (divide juice and put aside)
1/2 cup Trader Joe's Island Soyaki, divided
cilantro leaves (for garnish)
1 cup uncooked rice  (I use Basmati rice)



Directions:

1.Cube chicken and marinate with 1 portion of Island Soyaki in ziploc bag.

1. Cook rice replacing water for pineapple juice I use 1 cup of rice to 2 cups of water, so whatever juice you have replace the balance using water.

3. In the meantime, coat the bottom of a pan with balance of Soyaki, pineapple chunks (drained) onion, peppers and tsp of oil.  Saute veg until pineapple is caramelized.  Remove from pan and set aside. Heat remaining 1 tsp of oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes, and chicken including marinade to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until chicken is done.

4. Return veg mixture to pan. Cook 1-2 minute until mixed and heated, and sauce will thicken.

5. To serve: Spread ½ cup rice over each plate. Top each with about 1 cup sweet and sour chicken.  Garnish with cilantro.

6. ENJOY!

Also you can experiment a little, I've done this with Pork Chops and I've also replaced the peppers with green beans.

Makes 4 servings (1 cup pineapple chicken plus ½ cup rice)

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Easy Peasy Pad Thai




















(makes 2 huge servings or 3 servings)

1 package of cooked pad Thai noodles
1 boneless chicken breast or 2 thighs, chopped up into small pieces (I used thighs this time and breasts last time)
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. Ginger
4 green onions, sliced (save 1/2 for sauce)
1 egg
1 package of frozen stir fry veggies (Trader Joe's includes Carrots, bean sprouts, water chesnuts, edamame, snow peas)
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
2-3 Tbsp. vegetable oil for stir-frying
10 fresh basil leaves chopped. (put about a 1/4 of it in sauce)
1 cup coconut lime water

PAD THAI SAUCE:
1/2 cup coconut lime water (save 1/2 for sauce)
3 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp of Red Pepper Paste with Garlic and Lime (bought at Whole Foods)
3 Tbsp. Peanut Butter (I used natural no sugar added)
3 Tbsp. soy sauce (really should be fish sauce but I forgot it)



Make Pad Thai Sauce prior to cooking you will need it.


Instructions:

Heat a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Drizzle in the oil and swirl around, then add the garlic, chili, ginger, basil and the 1/2 the green onions. Stir-fry 1 minute.

Add chicken to pan stir-fry until the chicken is opaque add coconut water and continue to cook if pan becomes dry, add 1-2 Tbsp. of the pad Thai sauce - just enough to keep ingredients frying nicely.

Push ingredients to the side of the pan add a little oil if necessary and crack egg into center and stir-fry quickly to scramble.

Add noodles then slowly add the pad thai sauce little by little then fold in frozen Stir Fry veggies.

Remove from heat and taste-test, adding more fish sauce or soy sauce to taste (if desired)

Top with remaining green onion and a small heap of chopped/ground nuts.

ENJOY!

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Hoot and Collar


I found the perfect Owl Cowl on Pinterest and when I saw it I knew I needed to knit it.  So I wrote the pattern out if anyone wants it here you go.

Abbreviations:
BO = bind off
C4B = Cable Four Back; Worked over 4 sts. Place the first 2 sts on cable needle, hold in back of work, K2, then K2 from the cable needle.
C4F = Cable Four Front: Worked over 4 sts. Place the first 2 sts on cable needle, hold in front of work, K2, then K2 from the cable needle.
K = knit
P = purl
sts = stitches
SS = Seed Stitch K1 P1*Repeat then P knit sts and K purl sts

Cast on 16 Stitches

Knit 10 rows of seed stitch

Owl Pattern

Row 1: SS 4  K8, SS to end.
Row 2: SS 4, P8 SS to end.
Row 3: SS 4, C4B, C4F, SS6 to end.
Row 4: SS 4  P8, SS to end.
Row 5: SS 4  K8, SS to end.
Row 6: SS 4  P8, SS to end.
Row 7: SS 4  K8, SS to end.
Row 8: SS 4  P8, SS to end.
Row 9: SS 4  K8, SS to end.
Row 10: SS 4  P8, SS to end.
Row 11: SS 4 , C4B, C4F, SS to end.
Row 12: SS 4  P8, SS to end.
Row 13: SS 4 , K1, P2, K2, P2, K1, SS to end.
Row 14: SS 4  P1, K2, P2, K2, P1, SS to end.
Row 15: SS 4  K8, SS to end.
Row 16: SS 4  P8, SS to end.
Row 17: SS 4, C4B, C4F, SS to end.
Row 18: SS 4  P8, SS to end.

Knit until scarf measures 10 inches BO

Attach ends to make point.

Sew contrasting colored buttons on owl’s eyes (optional)

Enjoy!