And I call myself a blogger?

It's true, I've been terribly neglectful of this blog. Truth is, just like everyone else in the world, the holidays and life completely took over. No excuse! We've been up to a lot of the same things, working out and teaching a ton, spending family time, and of course getting together with friends.

One tradition we've started is a spin on something we already did. Friday pizza night! So creative, right? The "spin" is that I've been making my own pizza. I've made pizzas before, but usually just bought ready made naan bread and used it as the crust. I've broken my streak with unsuccessful bread recipes with a really easy pizza crust. I also don't have a pizza stone, and thought that it wouldn't come out well. Wrong! I found a really easy method on popsugar (randomly found while googling) that works SO well.

The way to cook the pizza without a stone is really easy, and it totally changes how the crust tastes and looks. Preheat a cookie sheet to 500 for about 10 minutes. When you pull it out, drizzle the sheet with olive oil (I lay down tin foil for easier clean up). Lay your rolled out dough onto the cookie sheet, top with your toppings, and bake. That's it!

The basic dough recipe is:

1 packet dry active yeast
1 Cup warm water
3 Cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 t sugar
2 T olive oil

Combine the first two ingredients in a mixer and let stand for about ten minutes (you're just activating the yeast). Once that starts foaming a bit, add the other ingredients into the mixer with a dough hook attachment. Let it rise for about an hour. I split it in half to make 2 pizzas.

My best pizza yet came from a very complex and difficult combination of ingredients. Not really, it came from a magical item you can find in your local Trader Joe's. Or Trader Giotti's. Their bruschetta is amazing, and it worked perfectly as a pizza "sauce"- chunky and flavorful without being too much like a regular chopped tomato bruschetta. I also use the bread dipping seasoning herb grinder on the left to season the pizza. Sometimes I even throw it into the dough as it mixes.

 

I put a blend of Parmesan and mozzarella on top of the bruschetta, and then baked at 500 for about 10 minutes.

 

 

Connor loves to cook in his new kitchen as well!

 

 

His latest favorite toy is very high tech....a diaper box. It's the simple things!

 

 

Happy weekend!







Christmas Time

Christmas is in full swing over here, and I've had more fun this year getting everything ready than ever before. I know having Connor is what has made the holiday season so exciting; watching him experience new things and actually be "old" enough to get exciting is just thrilling.

We've been doing a whole lot of baking, decorating, and yes, still working out.

Our tree is fully decked, and I'm happy to say that Connor hasn't attacked it yet. Pretty much all of our ornaments came in a set, and they're hard plastic. That is KEY with a toddler. If the ornaments were all glass I'd probably be too paranoid to let him play around the tree.

 

I think our mantle is one of my favorite holiday decorations. The garland came pre-lit from Costco, and I used twine to hang Christmas cards from clothespins (that was an idea I stole from my friend Beth).

 

Connor visited Santa, and was NOT feeling it. Honestly though, the Santa was pretty intimidating, so I don't blame him!

 

These picture are pure gold in my eyes. The sheer terror Santa incited is just too much to handle.

 

 

One tradition we decided to start this year, and look forward to the kids taking part in, is baking cookies throughout the season, assembling cookie baskets for friends and family, and delivering them right before Christmas. If you're a friend that I'm getting together with next weekend for a certain holiday party, you *might* have some cookies coming your way ;)

 

So far, I've made: oatmeal chocolate chip, regular chocolate chip, peanut butter blossoms, and gingerbread cookies. My favorite recipe happens to be a new one I found googling. It's seriously the easiest peanut butter cookie, and it is SO good.

 

1 C sugar (you can use brown or white, I do half of each)

1 C peanut butter- I use chunky

1 egg

 

I throw all of the ingredients into my mixer, and let it go until combined. Bake at 350 for about ten minutes. SO GOOD!

 

I also do the Hershey's kiss in the middle directly after baking. Try these, you will not be disappointed.

 



 

And now, you have to burn off those cookies, right? Try a HIIT workout. High intensity interval training. Use the easy formula of 45 seconds work, 15 seconds rest. You really can pick any total body moves for this. Here's a great example of a HIIT workout you can do at home or in the gym. Remember, there are no reps listed because you should be working for 45 seconds, and that could end up being a different number of reps for every person. The purpose of only having a short rest period is to keep your heart rate up, and have maximum calorie burn.

 

HIIT workout- repeat 3-4 times

45 seconds work/15 seconds rest

 

Burpees

Squat jumps

Butterfly push-ups

Plank

Alternating forward lunges with bicep curls

Squat with shoulder press

Bicycle crunches

 





Keep it simple!

Stroller strides has officially moved inside for the winter. To be honest, I totally prefer being outside, and using things like benches and fences as part of the workout. Inside, you're a bit more limited. I've decided to take a more basic approach, and work circuits, just like I do in my group fitness classes.

The nature of a stroller strides class is very different than a group ex class, so the workout will be too.

Today was PACKED and it was so fun! Everyone was really sweating, and it was a hard one for sure. 

The workout:

4 rounds of:

15 jacks

15 squat jumps

15 burpees

15 push-ups

1 min plank

Walking lunges down the basketball court and back

2 laps

The KEY here is to make this as hard or modified as you need. Here's the truth. By the end of this, if you're not dripping sweat, you need to push it a little harder. Full burpees, getting all the way down with the squat jumps, sprinting the laps, full push-ups, get it? On the flip side, if you're really struggling, modify! Reach up and down instead if jumping, push-ups from the knees, etc. Take every workout this way, and you'll always get a GOOD workout.

Something Connor has now been introduced to, courtesy of his stroller strides friends: snacks in the stroller. We can see how well that turned out!

Frittata Cups

 

I have a new favorite dinner that is both easy to make AND healthy. Those are usually my 2 requirements for a meal, so this fits the bill! Frittata cups made with veggies, eggs, and bacon. So good. This really isn't a "recipe", but more of a method that you can adapt depending on what veggies you prefer or have already at home.

 

Crack a few eggs and egg whites into a bowl (for 3 people I've been doing 3 regular eggs and adding 4-5 egg whites), add a splash of milk, seasonings (I do salt, pepper, and garlic powder). Whisk that all together. Sautee whatever veggies you have, I usually do onion, pepper, and spinach. Wait until the veggies cool, and then whisk that into the eggs.

 

Before you start prepping the eggs, spread your bacon onto a sheet pan lined with foil and bake at 375 for about 6-7 minutes. You want the bacon to pre-cook a little so it crisps up nicely in the muffin cups.

 

Using either a muffin pan or cupcake tin, line the cup with a slice of bacon, and then laddle in the egg mixture about half to three quarters up the tin.  You can also top it off with a little cheese if you're feeling that.

 

Bake for about 20-25 minutes until the center is firm.

 

 

 I also wanted to share a few pictures we had done recently for our Christmas cards. Unfortunately, Connor was sick the day of the photo shoot, and he wasn't his usual smiling self. We got a few that will be cute for a Christmas card, even if he isn't smiling brightly!

Another big update on the baby (I guess toddler now!) front- he started walking yesterday! Just over 14 months. Everyone has always warned me about how much harder things will get (at pretty much every development), but Connor is such an easy little guy, and I don't worry too much about it.

Sorry I've been absent recently. Between teaching classes, starting a new part time writing job, and taking care of Connor, I really haven't had any down time. 

My teaching schedule has changed a bit too. Now I'm doing weekday (mwf) mornings at the y, and teaching mon and tues evenings at PSC. Stroller strides is going to be either Tuesdays or Saturdays (alternating) this month. I've realized that two nights per week is the max that I'm ok with being away from home. Having dinner as a family really is important to me, and if I teach any more than two nights, it feels like I miss more dinners than I'm home for. I'm lucky that Matt is so great at taking over when he gets home from work. Bath time and putting Connor to bed has been Matt's job for a long time. It's nice that they have their own time together, and if I'm not teaching, it gives me a nice break! Even if its just to clean up, it's easier to do it without watching Connors every move.

Speaking of moves, Connor has officially taken steps! He's certainly not full on walking, but he's on his way!

Here's some recent favorite pics:

This one kills me; almost exactly one year difference:

Ok, enough showing off my boy!

Time to get to the important stuff- the workout. Below is what I did in my 8:30 class today. It was a nice mix of body weight moves combined with strength and cardio. Definitely a total body workout that will leave you drenched.

Preform each exercise for about a minute, and repeat each circuit twice.

Have a great day!

Quick and Healthy Dinner

Trader Joe's is one of my favorite places. It's also one if Connors (they give out free samples). I love it because they have lot of prepared food that is actually healthy. Most frozen foods are high calorie, high fat, and loaded with sodium. 

My favorite frozen staples are the Thai shrimp and veggie dumplings. They're pretty low calorie (under 300 for about 6) and make a good lunch with added veggies. The quinoa with roasted veggies is really flavorful and filling. One bag is good for about two lunches for me (and Connor). Organic waffles are a breakfast staple for C. The frozen fish is amazing, too! We especially love the miso glazed cod.

The refrigerated section has great options as well. I LOVE the eggplant parm stacks. About 300 calories for a portion (two per package). I add roasted broccoli and its a really filling lunch or dinner. 

The grilled marinated chicken breasts are perfect for building salads. Last night I took the lemon pepper chicken, added a ton of fresh veggies, and dressed it with tj's peanut salad dressing. Matt was raving that this was "seriously a restaurant quality salad". Now, that's huge. It takes a lot to get that man excited about salad for dinner.

Trader Joe's lemon pepper chicken breasts

Shredded carrots

Butter lettuce

Pea shoots

Thinly sliced celery

Scallions

Peanut dressing 

Try this!

How To: Design Your Own Workout

If you feel intimidated walking into the free weight section of the gym, you're not alone. When I talk to friends and people that come to my classes, a lot of them tell me they will only ever come to a class or do cardio machines, because they feel like they just don't know what to do with the weights to maximize their time. It IS hard to put together a good strength workout if you haven't done it before.

Follow my "formula", and you'll see how easy it really can be. This "formula" is how I design most of my classes, and it's a great way to vary the moves in the workout. If you come to my classes, you know that I never repeat the same exact workout twice, because it's boring! Swapping circuits, mixing and matching, and taking favorites from different workouts is a great way to switch things up.

People always ask what I think the best type of workout is; yoga, weights, running, cardio machines, etc. Hands down, if I have only 30 minutes to do something and I want to get the most "bang for my buck" it's going to be a strength based circuit workout. What does that mean? Strength based circuit training uses free weights (but some of these workouts won't), short but intense cardio bursts, and body weight exercises.

For the workout design, think 4 movements per circuit. I like to start each circuit with a cardio burst. Think of moves that get your heart racing very fast, and also incorporate a strength movement, like a squat jump. After that, pick 2 total body exercises, and then add on something that engages the abs at the end.

For example:

Perform each exercise for 1 min, repeats circuit 2-3 times

1. Cardio- squat jumps
2. Total body- reverse lunges with a front arm raise using dumbbells
3. Total body- squat/press (squat down and press arms up at the top of the squat with dumbbells)
4. Abs- plank with shoulder taps

You can pick any moves you'd like, but once you've designed a workout, it will start to seem easy!

Below is a page from my book that I bring to each class. I switched up this class by doing the same circuit 3 times, the first was for 1 minute, second was for 45 seconds, and third was for 30 seconds. It helped to make it feel a little easier, since the hard time was going to be the most challenging.

 

Write out your workout, bring it with you, and feel confident in the weights section of your gym. You know what to do!