This is pretty much all about food.

Hi, everyone. I fell off the blogging wagon again. But this is fine, because here I am! I may or may not rock you like a hurricane. Here’s what’s good:

I made new and improved oatmeal pancakes.

My biggest issues with last week’s pancakes were that they were kind of dry and not really sweet enough for me, but I thought I could solve both of these problems by using applesauce instead of a chopped apple. I found this recipe online, and they were SO MUCH BETTER. In addition to using applesauce, the recipe calls for the oats to be ground into powder (which is really easy to do in the blender). I also added a scoop of protein powder and an extra tablespoon of egg whites (bring it up to a total of 9 T, or 3 egg whites). The recipe made 3 pretty large pancakes, which I was perfectly happy to eat all by myself (Kevin got real pancakes, so he wasn’t jealous). I topped them with PB2 powder mixed with water:

If I hadn’t been limiting my sugar intake I might have mixed the PB2 with some maple syrup or honey, but the pancakes were really fine without it. They were a lot softer and lighter, and more evenly sweet thanks to the applesauce. Next weekend I think I may make a huge batch so I can have leftovers for breakfast during the week.


I had tomato soup for breakfast on Tuesday.

I’m usually pretty strict about having breakfast items for breakfast so it’s weird that I chose this, but I really couldn’t think of anything else I wanted to have (other than oatmeal pancakes, but I didn’t have time to make them). I added some Laughing Cow cheese wedges to it, mainly for the protein, but it made it extra good. I also had a slice of toast with ricotta cheese for extra protein.  Then, today I had a turkey and mozzarella quesadilla for breakfast.

Madness.



There were crazy awesome burgers for dinner.

Okay, lemme break it down for you. As you can see, there is cheese on top of the burgers (chopped up string cheese, but that’s fine). But, I’ll just have you know that there is ADDITIONAL cheese inside the burger:

This looks like it's a tiny burger, but in reality I had just eaten most of it.

That is literally double the cheese, my friends.

Also. Let’s take a closer look at this ketchup bottle, shall we?

It would not be exaggeration to say that this is by far the fanciest ketchup I’ve ever had. I mean, look at that gent (Sir Kensington, I presume)! He’s got a monocle! Packaging aside, the ketchup itself is less sweet and more tomatoey than normal American ketchup (but also less vinegary than I remember Irish ketchup tasting). It also has a texture that seems closer to tomato sauce than to what I normally associate with ketchup. I thought it was really good and completely worthy of its place upon my crazy awesome burger.


I jumped into microwave cake.

I forgot to take a picture of mine, but it looked sort of like this. (Source).

Microwave cake is a phenomenon that I have been actively avoiding for quite some time.  I mean, come on, really?  Cake in the microwave?  That's like eggs in the microwave.  With the exception of vegetables, I pretty much feel like the microwave is for heating up already cooked things, not for cooking raw things.  But, I was in the mood to make something on Monday night, and without an oven my options are limited.  Kevin was intrigued by the idea of microwave cake, so I decided to give it a shot.  After Googling a bit I finally decided on this recipe for 5-minute chocolate cake, mainly because I had all of the ingredients.  I made it for Kevin, but I had a bite and it actually wasn't bad.  I also made a quick chocolate sauce out of cream and chocolate chips (basically a loose ganache) to go on top.

Tonight, moved mainly by a desire to use up the last little bit of ricotta cheese in the fridge, I tried to adapt the chocolate cake recipe into a lemon-ricotta cake recipe.  I basically kept the recipe the same except for leaving out the cocoa powder and chocolate chips, reducing the amount of milk, and adding the ricotta cheese and lemon juice.  For this one I made a lemon glaze out of lemon juice and sugar:

This one was fine, but not as good as the chocolate one.  I felt like the lemon flavor was not enough to cover up the taste of the vegetable oil in the batter.  The texture was also a little off, slightly sticky.  Overall, though, these cakes weren't bad, and I'm kind of glad I started trying out microwave cakes.  This doesn't mean I'll start trying microwave eggs, though.  I'll never believe those are good.

Waiting Day like 7 or whatever.

So, Amazon says that the estimated delivery date for my new JCore USB is today….I'm here to tell you that this estimate is inaccurate.  Fedex says the estimated delivery date is next Thursday which I’m inclined to say is more realistic, although it also makes me sad because it’s so far away.  Oh well…it’s my own fault, so I really can’t be too grumpy about it.

The Workout: 20 minutes on the Death Machine

AKA the Stairmaster.  Since today was only 20 minutes, mostly at Level 5, it wasn't too bad.  Last Wednesday, however, I went for 30 minutes at Level 8 and I seriously had to stop every 7 minutes to take a break.  I feel like if I'm finding it so difficult it's probably a good thing for me to do, though, so I'll see if I can get to the gym to do it at least once a week.

Breakfast: Brown rice with applesauce and ricotta.

This was created mainly out of my desire to finish up some leftover brown rice from dinner and the last little bit of applesauce in the jar.  I threw in the ricotta for some protein, as well as to move towards finishing that up, too.  Kevin thought it was a weird combination and wasn’t convinced that it would taste good, but it was fine.  I also had a pre-breakfast latte before I left the house.

Lunch: Taco pork with spinach and broccoli.  I just realized I forgot to take a picture of this, which actually makes sense considering that I was almost practically starving to death by the time it was lunch time.  I made this pork in the slow cooker with green chilies and salsa, which is what makes it taco pork, I think.  Also it’s supposed to go in a taco, probably.  I just had it with veggies, and that was fine too.

Snack 1: Pistachios.

I was extra hungry today, which is kind of unusual given my eating pattern for the last couple of days.  Good thing I had these pistachios in my desk!

Snack 2: Greek yogurt with applesauce and cereal.

This actually gave me a bit of a stomachache today, which was weird.  Maybe it was because I actually dished out the yogurt on Wednesday night before realizing I was out of applesauce and having it sit in the fridge for a day?  Although, I can't see how it would make a difference that the yogurt was in this plastic container rather that it's original container....I'm not sure.

Snack 3: Garden of Eatin' sweet potato tortilla chips

Source

I was mostly looking for something salty to help settle my stomach, but I've also been feeling extra snacky today.

Dinner: I forgot to take a picture of this too.  But it was tomato soup with some more pork added in.

Snack 4: Corn Bran Crunchy cereal

Has anyone else noticed that I eat this cereal like it's my job?

A couple of hours after dinner I was hungry again!  Today was totally one of those days where I felt like I should eat everything.  For most of last week my daily calories were between 1100 and about 1350, which is much lower than what I'm used to (I wasn't trying to be low on purpose, I just wasn't as hungry), so maybe I'm just reacting to that.  This 4th snack put me over my target calories (about 1650), but only by like 20 calories so I think it's fine.

Highlights and Lowlights

Oh my gosh.  Everyone.  I haven’t posted anything it like a billion days.  I took all the pictures, but I got too lazy to write up the posts, and now it is TOO LATE.  But, in the interest of getting back on track I figured I’d take all the best stuff (and some of the worst stuff), squish it into one post, and call it a day.

Diamond Head

Last Saturday Kevin and I decided to get out and do some hiking.  The Diamond Head Crater hike is a relatively easy hike and didn’t take us too long, maybe an hour and a half.  I counted it as my workout for the day, but I really shouldn’t have since it wasn’t at all strenuous.  I didn’t even break a sweat – at least, not until it was time to conquer this beast:

After these came another (thankfully, smaller) set of spiral stairs.  I meant to count the total number of stairs, but I was too busy trying not to keel over so I forgot.  But once, I made it up, I got to see this view:

He's such a cutie :).

Worth it?  I think so :).

After the terrible stairs it was only a short time up to the very top, and the view from there was wonderful as well.

(Mostly) Good Eats

To get home from Diamond Head we took the scenic route along the Kalanianaole Highway, and on the way we stopped at a little but great Mexican place in Waimanalo:

I ordered the Mexico City style carnitas tacos because a) based on the menu description they sounded pretty safe, and b) if I get a taco it’s always going to be carnitas.  I imagined that the meat would be about 4 servings of protein, and the tortillas would make 2 servings of carbs, and I thought it would be fine.  However, I didn’t realize until they came out that the tortillas would be fried:

They were kind of greasy, and clearly I should not be eating fried things right now, but at that point it was too late and they needed to go in my mouth.  They were good, although the oil did give me a stomach ache a little later on.  I also ordered a pineapple agua fresco:

If only it had been watermelon flavor...

I really wanted a watermelon one, which is the best, but they were all out.  Pineapple was fine but definitely not as good as watermelon.  I drank about 2/3 of it then gave the rest to Kevin.

Then, Sunday night, we had pork chops for dinner.  

This is notable only because for once I actually remembered to marinate them ahead of time.  I used this recipe for honey-ginger marinade then cooked them in the electric skillet, and the pork came out really, really good.  Then, for dessert I cut up a pear, sprinkled on some cinnamon and ginger, and stuck it in the microwave until it was really soft and juicy:

  

It was really good for something that was pretty much just a piece of fruit. 

Monday morning, partially in honor of Martin Luther King Junior but mostly in honor of my stomach, I decided I wanted to try out a recipe for apple cinnamon protein pancakes.  I used this recipe, but since we were out of egg whites I separated some actual eggs that were in the fridge.

Half an apple went into the batter, and the other I ate while cooking.

The leftover yolks got made into pasta carbonara for Kevin later, so it all worked out. 

The thing is, as soon as I poured the batter into the pan I knew that it should have probably been 2 pancakes instead of one, but it was too late.  So I ended up with this giant thing:

Even with the apples and protein powder it wasn’t as sweet as I wanted it to be, so I added some almond butter on the top.  This worked for a little while, but overall the pancake was really dry and dense and not really awesome, which was disappointing.  I got about 2/3 of the way through before I broke down and added a tablespoon of maple syrup.  This upcoming weekend, I’ll try to find a better recipe to try out.

And then.  Then on Tuesday I went into work, and bacon pecan pie existed there.

There is straight up bacon in this pie.

That’s bacon.  And pecans.  And pie.  All in one!  Also there was homemade whipped cream, which as I’m sure you know is the best thing in the world.  We also know that there’s no way that bacon pecan pie is in anyway allowed on the JCore nutrition plan.  There’s no way I can even pretend to fudge it like I did with the carnitas tacos on Saturday.  But, I eventually decided that bacon pecan pie is no way a normal fixture in my life.  I had never even considered it a possibility before, and I was unlikely to ever encounter it again.  So, I had a tiny piece and about a tablespoon of whipped cream, and I was happy.  Because it was great.

Waiting Day 3

Happy Friday, everyone!  Hooray for 3-day weekends!  We’re going to try to go hiking tomorrow, but other than that we don’t have any major plans just yet.  Hopefully we can figure out something other than watching TV like we normally do.

The Workout

This morning before work I went onto sparkpeople.com to see if they had any good (free) workout videos.  I ended up doing a 10-minute cardio kickboxing video and a 12-minute seated ab workout.  It was better than nothing, but I feel like it wasn’t really strenuous enough.  I thought about doing another one when I got home from work, but then I just watched at weird movie instead.  

The Food

Breakfast: Bagel thin with almond butter, egg whites, and tea.

Pretty much the same as yesterday, except today I had vanilla almond butter.  It has a little more sugar in it than it probably should, so I counted it as half a carb serving as well as my fat.  Oh, and also this time my eggs had bacon salt on them!

Lunch:  Butternut squash soup with added green beans and chicken.

This was good and really easy to just throw together this morning.  We didn’t have any leftovers from dinner last night so this was pretty much the best I could do, but it was still good.

Snack: Cottage cheese with strawberries, ginger, and vanilla.

Dinner:  Tilapia with butternut squash and honeydew.

Snack 2: Corn Bran Crunch cereal.

I also had a latte, and 2 of Kevin's mini Ritz cheese cracker thingos.  That's probably fine, though.

Okay, now I'm gonna go watch every episode of Parks and Recreation!  Happy weekend!

Waiting Day 2

Hey guys, it's totally bedtime so I'm gonna make this quick.

The Workout

TRX!  Awesome as usual.  I just found out that my instructor is leaving, and will only be around for 5 more weeks, though.  I’m sad, she’s a really good instructor!  I remember when she went on vacation once and I didn’t really like her sub, so I’m a little worried about who they’ll get to take over the class…hopefully it will be fine.

The Food

Breakfast: Bagel thin with almond butter, egg whites, and tea.

Lunch:  Leftover turkey burger with butternut squash and asparagus.

Snack: Greek yogurt with apple sauce and cereal.

Dinner: Steak and green beans.

Just for comparison, here's Kevin's plate:

I just want you to take note of the meat to vegetable ratio...just think about that.

Waiting Day 1

Alright, so my new JCore USB has been shipped, and hopefully it will get here soon.  In the meantime I figured I'd continue to log my food and workouts to stay on track.  Here we go!

The Workout

I went to this class at the gym called Fitness Challenge.  I had never been before, but I wanted to try something new.  This is an hour-long class that basically does different forms of aerobic and strength-training exercises, and I think they mix up what they do a bit for every class.  Of course, since today is the only time I’ve ever come to this class, today would be the day the instructor says, “Okay guys, today we’re going to do some TRX!”  Luckily for everyone TRX is my best pal, so doing it 3 days in a row won’t be too much of a hardship.  Also the class today was structured a little differently than my normal class, so it was fine.

The Food

Breakfast: Oatmeal with caramelized onions and Laughing Cow Light Garlic and Herb cheese.

Same as yesterday, and still super good.

Lunch: Salad with currant tomatoes, broccoli, Jennie-o turkey ham, and hummus-vinegar salad dressing and blueberries.

This is actually the lunch I didn't eat yesterday, but it was still fine today.

Snack: Cottage cheese with banana, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla, and pecans.

This was pretty good, but it kind of bothered me that it was so cold (from the fridge).  I wished very much that it were warmer, but putting it the microwave seemed weird.  So I didn't.  

Dinner:  Turkey burger on whole wheat English muffin with Laughing Cow French Onion Cheese, and milk.

We mixed taco seasoning and EVEN MORE Laughing Cow cheese into the ground turkey and it was pretty delish.


Snack 2:  Corn Bran Crunch cereal

Just a little bit to see what it tasted like.  It tastes kind of like less sweet Cap'n Crunch, so that's cool.


So, I think today went well, I got all my calories in, so good job me!  

JCore Emergency!

Okay, guys…I totally broke my JCore USB.  I don’t even know how it happened, except to say that it was in my computer, and then I put my computer somewhere weird, and chaos ensued.  I’ve ordered another one, but until it arrives I’m going to have to take a JCore hiatus.  I should probably also take a moment to reflect on and be grateful for the fact that I’m at a position in my life where I can drop a hundred bucks on something, break it within a week, and then just go get another one

Anyway, I think that in the meantime I’ll keep tracking my food on here, just to keep in the habit.

Breakfast: Oatmeal with caramelized onions and Laughing Cow Light Garlic and Herb cheese.

This was delicious.  I made a big batch of caramelized onions in the slow cooker overnight, so they were really easy.

Snack 1: Greek yogurt with apple sauce and cereal.

This had a weird texture and looks kind of gross, but it tasted good so that’s fine.

Snack 2: Blueberries.

Here’s the thing: I had breakfast at like 8:30, and then snack at like 1, which meant I wasn’t hungry for lunch before it was time to head out to TRX at 3.  When I got back I wasn’t particularly hungry either, and I only had a half hour left before it was time to head home, but I figured I should eat something so I had blueberries. 

Dinner:  Toasted whole wheat English muffin with Laughing Cow Light Garlic and Herb cheese and French Onion cheese (1 wedge of each), egg whites, and caramelized onions.

This was pretty delicious considering that I just grabbed it because I couldn’t think of anything better to eat.

Snack 3: Pecans and skim milk.

Shortly before going to bed I tallied up my calories for the day and realized I had eaten less than 1000.  I wasn’t really hungry but I figured I should eat something else.  Eating this snack brought me up to just below 1200 calories for the day.

Looking over my posts from the last couple of days, it seems like I’ve been eating less and less, which is weird.  I’m not really doing it on purpose, it just seems like in the past I would be hungry like every 2.5 hours, and now I’m just hungry less often.  I first noticed it over the weekend, and I thought maybe it was because I was at home instead of at work, and maybe I’m using my meal and snack breaks as a way to break up my workday.  But then, the same kind of thing happened today, so I’m not sure.  Maybe it’s because I’m eating more protein now so I’m full longer?  Or maybe because I’m getting better at having the proper amount of water in a day, so I'm not eating when I'm actually thirsty?  I don't know, I'll have to see how it goes.

JCore Day 8

(So, yet again, this is an older post that I didn’t get up in time.  This one is from Monday, Jan 14.  Sorry everyone…)

Home sick today :(.  Nothing major, just sleepy and headachy and crampy.  Because of this, however, I skipped my JCore workout; I’ll swap today’s workout for one of my rest days during the week.  I did have a weigh-in, however, and it looks like I’ve lost about 5 lbs since I started, which is pretty cool.  I also got some stuff done around the house, like laundry and dishes and stuff, so at least the day was a little productive.

The Food

Breakfast: Bagel thin with almond butter and Jennie-o turkey ham. 

Does my breakfast look like a mad face to anyone else?

Turkey ham is kind of weird, guys.  I have to say I don’t love it, and it seems really processed so I probably shouldn’t be eating it.  But, in my desperation to eat something that wasn’t chicken I bought a giant hunk of it at the store the other day so I might be eating it for a while.

Lunch: Egg whites and avocados.

Snack: Honeydew and cheese stick.

Dinner: Grilled lemon-rosemary chicken and steamed veggies.

I was super happy with this chicken.  I had been having issues with chicken made on the George Foreman grill coming out dry, but I read online that if you cook chicken with the skin on and then remove the skin before you eat it this will help.  Let me tell you that it totally works!  I really liked the marinade as well, although once cooked the stuck-on pieces of rosemary kind of reminded me of pine needles…whatever.