November 30 2012

“If you want to be happy in a million ways…”

For the holidays you can’t beat home, sweet home! This freezing cold weather has gotten me in the mood to listen to Christmas tunes. (I love Christmas music so any excuse to listen to it works for me!) I am feeling more awake than usual because I managed to wake up at 5:30am! (Who am I?) When I walked outside this morning in pursuit of the gym, I was greeted with some uncomfortably cold weather combined with a beautiful sunrise.

I'll take a beautiful sunrise any day — I’ll take a beautiful sunrise any day

I shuffled over to the gym and decided to jump right into a circuit workout. I needed something to keep me busy so I skipped the traditional cardio and instead, I did some strength training combined with cardio inspired by hard and fast Crossfit workouts. I had a great workout. Check out my workout page to see my entire routine.

Since I woke up so early this morning, I was able to have a complete breakfast before hitting the gym. This almost never happens since I’m usually in a hurry but I woke up pretty hungry and decided to throw together a protein-packed meal.

turkey bacon + a cheese and spinach omlet

the real reason I woke up early perhaps?

I ate my breakfast in front of the television opting to watch music videos. Yeah, I still love watching music videos! Also, I didn’t want to watch a TV show because I may not have ever made it off the couch and into the gym. Next time you need a little inspiration to hit the gym, try watching a few favorite music videos or listening to some music. It’s definitely one of my motivators.

Can't forget these puppies — Can’t forget these puppies

Backtracking a bit, guess what I had for dinner last night? Spaghetti squash! I know, I probably should give it a rest but in an effort to use up my groceries, I figured I could cook the rest of the squash last night to have for dinner and then have the leftovers for lunch today. And this time, I perfected my recipe. I was so excited that my meal tasted great and looked pretty! I’m very much a “throw it together” type cook, which gets me into trouble so I’m starting to learn what can be thrown together and what cannot. (I learned my lesson the hard way during a baking experiment.) 😉

Into the pot went greens, tomatoes, seasonings, and olive oil

the color makes it almost look pretty! :) — the color makes it almost look pretty! 🙂

After the cooking, I added some goat cheese and parmesan cheese.

Shh don't tell- I use Kraft parmesan cheese! — Shh don’t tell- I use Kraft parmesan cheese!

And let me tell you, the results were great, if I do say so myself! 😉

This meal was definitely a success and I even had enough to pack for my lunch today. That is the kind of cooking I like.

Can't judge leftovers my it's looks... — Can’t judge leftovers my it’s looks…

After dinner, I made my way back to the kitchen for a little more cooking. I’m all out of snack-type foods so I’ve been trying to get creative with making snacks for the day. (I usually eat two snacks a day- one in the morning and one in the afternoon.) The popcorn kernels were sitting on my shelf so I heated up some canola oil and made some popcorn. It’s crazy how much popcorn I made! I paid less than $2 for a big bag of plain corn kernels, which I can season however I want but buying the already prepared microwavable popcorn is much more expensive and contains more sketchy ingredients. I’m all about the plain kernels.

Seasoned with butter, salt, pepper, and garlic salt mmm

After storing lunch away for the next day, I had dessert on the brain, naturally. I saw some recipes online for a micorwavable one-person chocolate cake that I had been meaning to try so last night, I finally got around to trying it. I ended up using a much smaller amount of ingredients then most of the recipes called for; I used 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder, sugar, flour, a pinch of baking soda and baking powder, and then added a touch of canola oil and egg whites. (I opted for egg whites because a whole egg is usually too much for a single serving dessert.) I mixed all the ingredients together in a mug and it looked like it would be equal to about 4 bites in total so I popped it in the micorwave for only 30 seconds and it trippled in size and looked delicious!

I totally just threw together ingredients to bake this concoction which is never a smart idea but it surprisingly turned out really well! (Take that, baking!) This dessert was perfect and I was actually satisfied afterwards. What’s not to love about a mini chocolate cake? Add some rainbow sprinkles and I’ve found my perfect meal!