Star

Not Your Average Workout

Posted by Lisa Eirene

No, this one ended with happy tears. But let me back up.

For about a month most of us Warrior Room-goers knew there was a super secret plan brewing that was going to take place on Saturday March 1st. What was the secret? A marriage proposal. Under the guise of a “lil warriors” party (i.e. the little kid’s workout).

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I’ve been skipping weight lifting and the Warrior Room for the last three weeks because I was sick and then I had tennis elbow. After resting, I was ready to get back at it. And I was glad I was better by the big day! I went to the gym and we had a fantastic workout! But I have to admit, it was kind of hard to not be excited because I knew what was going to happen after the workout. The anticipation was palpable in the room. Everyone there knew what was coming! But the soon-to-be-bride.

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The last team workout of the session is picture above. Damn was it hard! After a killer workout already, we all had to hold the plank position while one person did the Battle Ropes. When that person was done, they ran to end of the line and the next person in line had to run to the ropes and so on. It was hard! I’d guess we were holding that plank for at least 2 minutes. Yowza!

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The workout ended and people were milling around trying to be casual. Then the little kids that were going to help Ashley proposed to Alexis started filing out of the daycare room holding hands. Each kid had on t-shirt spelling out “Will You Marry Me?”. (I wish I had gotten some better pictures. I was a bit shaky after the workout and was apparently struggling to keep the camera steady!)

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How adorable is that? Everyone in the room was sniffing and crying with happiness. It was so cool to include the kids. I was really glad I lingered after the workout to witness such a fun event. It was really cool to be part of it on the other side. It gave me a little insight on the anticipation, nervousness and excitement that Michael must have felt before proposing to me last summer!

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There was champagne, coffee and cinnamon rolls. I had some coffee and a cinnamon roll. That helped my shakiness! It was a great workout and an even better start to the day.

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I burned a ton of calories and felt great afterward! My elbow was good, no issues there. So glad to be back at the gym! Anyways, I wanted to share the happy news of the day! How exciting! Around 4:30 Michael and I headed over to the bar in SE Portland that they rented out for a celebration party. We stopped in for a quick beer and a congratulations before we went to my friend Star’s house for dinner. 

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I made a green salad with sliced apple, avocado, yellow and red peppers and Gorgonzola cheese. Star made a roasted tomato soup and topped it with garlic cheese croutons from Trader Joe’s. They were A-MAZING! Dinner was fantastic and really hit the spot. Dessert was a lemon tart also from Trader Joe’s. 

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I want to talk briefly about this dessert. Besides that it was delicious and wonderful (I love lemon!), the Nutritional Label was ridiculous. Want to know how many calories were in a serving? 420 calories. Want to know how many servings were in the very large, pie-sized tort? The label said 4. Four servings? Looking at it I would guess 8 servings. 4?!?! On what planet? So my dessert serving was around 200 calories, not 420! Talk about faulty labeling.

It was a full, fun, exciting, delicious day. And man was I glad to crawl into bed at the end of it…

Yule Dinner

Posted by Lisa Eirene

For Yule I had my friend Star over for dinner and presents. She’s tried a bunch of different diets to cure her diabetes and after a few years and many holistic health appointments, she found something that worked: going vegan. She’s not a totally strict vegan, she will have some real cheese every once in awhile, but what she found going vegan was astounding! I don’t know that it cured her diabetes but her blood sugar is closer to normal and she no longer has to take medication for it. I think that’s awesome! While the vegan lifestyle doesn’t work for me, I’m impressed at how it changed her. Since she’s vegan, I wanted to find something for dinner that she could eat. I scoured the internet and settled on this recipe from Oh She Glows:

Print
Chickpea Salad Wrap

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Servings: 3 servings

Read more: http://ohsheglows.com/2012/01/16/lunch-this-week-chickpea-salad-wraps/#ixzz2o9YCieOU

Ingredients

  • 1 (15-oz) can chickpeas (or 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas)
  • 1/2 cup chopped celery
  • 2 tbsp chopped red onion
  • 3 tbsp chopped dill pickle (~1 pickle)
  • 1 tbsp minced fresh dill
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1/2 tsp regular mustard
  • 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup toasted sunflower seeds (or pecans/walnuts)
  • salt/herbamare and pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325F and toast the sunflower seeds for about 11 minutes.
  2. Mix everything into a bowl, mashing up the chickpeas slightly with a fork, and season with salt (I used Herbamare) and pepper, to taste.
  3. Stuff into a wrap or pita, or enjoy with crackers or rice cakes.
  4. Nutritional Info (based on 3 servings): 222 kcals, 8 grams fat, 32 grams carbs, 7 grams fibre, 1 gram sugar, 8 grams protein.

Nutrition Facts

Chickpea Salad Wrap

Serves

Amount Per Serving
Calories 222
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0
Saturated Fat 0
Trans Fat
Cholesterol 0
Sodium 0
Total Carbohydrate 0
Dietary Fiber 0
Sugars
Protein
Vitamin A Vitamin C
Calcium Iron

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

110 Pounds and Counting

http://www.110pounds.com/?p=41218

I was skeptical, I’ll be honest. I didn’t really know what to expect. It was an easy recipe to mix up and this is something I can see making for a last minute event or something because it was so easy.

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I picked up these wraps and they were REALLY good. They were made with flaxseed, quinoa, spelt, millet, wheat and kamut. I was impressed with how tasty they were. These might be my new favorite tortilla/wraps.

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After I mixed everything up I made a spinach salad with cashews, raw broccoli and avocado. Star arrived and we made our wraps. (Michael had some chicken with his.)

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I loved how all the flavors meshed. The spiciness of the red onion complimented the savory flavors of the pickles. I added a little more mustard than the recipe called for and used half regular yellow mustard and half Dijon. I think the fresh dill really made this recipe good. Fresh herbs are just better.

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This recipe was fantastic! I loved it. I would make this again for an easy lunch to take to work. It could be used as a side dish without the wrap. You can top a salad with it. It’s very versatile.

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Star brought a loaf of cheesy olive bread from New Seasons (which was decadent and hard to resist). Everyone was impressed with the meal–even Michael. For dessert we shared some desserts from Petunia’s Pies and Pastries.

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We’ve been to Petunia’s before. They make all sorts of vegan and gluten-free desserts. Some were really good and you could hardly tell they were GF and some were a little “meh.” The three of us shared some of a salted chocolate chip and macadamia nut cookie and the above apple cinnamon coffee cake. Both were fantastic!

 

Christmas Eve

For Christmas Eve I got off work early and went for a quick run on the track near the house (2.35 miles). It was a crisp, cool afternoon but the sun was out, even if it was hidden behind the fog. It was a nice run around the track–peaceful and relaxing.

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Then Michael and I also tried a new recipe for dinner from Alton Brown. Instead of kielbasa we used mild Italian sausage links but there wasn’t really a difference. It was still just as good.

Print
Alton Brown's Christmas Eve Soup

Servings: 6-8 servings depending on the size

From: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=763481570348120&set=a.271831096179839.79224.271823759513906&type=1&theater

Ingredients

  • 14 ounces kielbasa, sliced into 1/4 inch thick disks on the bias
  • 2 teaspoons vegetable oil, as needed
  • 8 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 pound red kidney beans, soaked at least 4 hours or overnight
  • 2 quarts chicken broth
  • 1 pound red potatoes cut into .5 inch cubes
  • 6 ounces fresh kale washed, rinsed and torn into 1 inch pieces
  • ¼ cup red wine vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

  1. Brown the kielbasa in a 7-quart Dutch oven and set over medium low heat until it has rendered most of its fat, approximately 15 minutes. Remove the kielbasa from the pan and set aside. If you do not have at least 2 teaspoons of fat, add enough vegetable oil to make 2 teaspoons of fat.
  2. Cook the garlic in the fat for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent the garlic from burning. Add the beans and the chicken broth and cook, covered, for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, stir in the potatoes, cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. Toss the kale into the pot, cover and cook for an additional 10 minutes or just until it is tender, but not mushy.
  4. Sprinkle with the red wine vinegar, salt, and black pepper and stir to combine. Return the kielbasa to the pot and cook just until heated through. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Nutrition Facts

Alton Brown's Christmas Eve Soup

Serves

Amount Per Serving
Calories 535 or 404
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0
Saturated Fat 0
Trans Fat
Cholesterol 0
Sodium 0
Total Carbohydrate 0
Dietary Fiber 0
Sugars
Protein
Vitamin A Vitamin C
Calcium Iron

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

110 Pounds and Counting

http://www.110pounds.com/?p=41218

We both really liked the soup. The flavors went well together and I loved the kale in the soup! It was hearty and comforting on a cold winter night. We both agreed that the red beans seemed odd in the soup. Discussing how we’d do it differently next time, I think we’ll skip the beans and add onions instead.

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After dinner our friends Erika and Charles came over to watch Christmas movies and have popcorn. We had some beer and some nog and watched Die Hard–THE Christmas classic. 🙂 It was awesome and so much fun! And Bella did a GREAT job meeting them. She had two timeouts for barking and growling when they first got there but then she was cool and sat in between our friends on the couch and fell asleep on Charles’s lap during the movie.

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The santa hat makes me laugh. She didn’t seem bothered at all by the hat and never tried to get it off her head. Oh the hats I plan on getting Bella now!! 😀