'Sick Girl Workout' + Different Grains

Welcome back Monday, how I did NOT miss you. Ok, on a more positive note…new week= new start

Today I am still feelin’ this sickness, so I am working from home. Thankfully I am ABLE to work from home, in cases like this. I hope to be recovered fully by tomorrow. I just didn’t want to spread this ‘funk’ around the office.

The highlight of my weekend:

RAVENS WON

Yesterday I did manage to get a workout in….I cannot just sit around all day for two days in a row. It drives me bananas! I just get the need to do SOMETHING. It was a lighter kind of workout, but when I finished I felt rejuvenated!

I took the beginning part from Julie’s Lazy Girl Workout & then changed the higher intensity part to incline walking.

Instead of a ‘lazy girl workout,’ I’ll call this a ‘sick girl workout’

Minute	Incline	Pace
0-4	7.5	4
4-9	1	6
9-13	7.5	4
13-18	1	6
18-22	7.5	4
22-25	2	6
25-30	12	3.5
30-35	12	3
35-40	7.5	4
40-41	0	3.5
41-42	0	3

Then I did:
-15 lunges (each leg) with lateral raises- 5lb. each hand
-15 tricep kickbacks (each arm)- 5lb. each hand

Ab workout: (repeated twice)
-25 ab rollouts on stability ball
-25 crunches on stability ball
-25 crunches- legs on stability ball
-12 stability ball passes
-20 ab tucks with ball

Butt Exercises (repeated twice):
-12 fire hydrants (each leg)
-12 fire hydrants with kick out (each leg)
-12 donkey kicks with 5lb. weight (each leg)

& I finished up with inner thigh exercises.

It felt SO good to workout! Even though it was a light workout for me, I was just happy to do something.

Now I have to share with you some recent recipes that I have made. I have been on a grain kick. I’ve been looking for different recipes that involve grains, instead of the typical pasta or rice. So far these recipes are what I have come up with so far.

Greek Chicken & Barley Salad
(based on this recipe)

ingredients:

2  (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

3  cups  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

1  cup  uncooked pearl barley

2  cups  cubed seeded cucumber

1  cup  grape tomatoes, halved

1/2  cup  cubed green bell pepper

1/3  cup  reduced-fat feta cheese

2 handfuls spinach

light dressing, of your choice
(my choice:)

Preparation

1. To prepare chicken, bring a pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add chicken breasts & cook until done- approximately 10- 15 minutes. (just keep checking it) Once done, shred with fork/ cut into pieces. Just for some extra flavor, I mixed the chicken with about 1 tbsp. of basil pesto. You could add whatever spices you would like to the chicken, just for some extra flavor.

2. Bring 3 cups broth to a boil in a large saucepan; add barley. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 35 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Fluff with a fork. Cool.

3. Combine chicken, barley, cucumber, grape tomatos, green pepper & feta in a large bowl.

4. Stir fry spinach in a pan sprayed with Pam cookin spray for about 3-5 minutes until wilted.

4. Add spinach to bowl with the chicken & vegetables; toss  with dressing of choice.

I served the salad with 16 grain brain. It was a perfect complement to the salad.

Honestly this would be a PERFECT summer salad too- you could just chill it. I had it a few days after for lunch, after it had been in the fridge & it was JUST as good. It’s good warm OR cold.

Now for a different kind of ‘grain’ kind of meal…
Craig LOVES jambalaya- you can find some of the jambalaya recipes that I have made in my recipes section. I saw this recipe in a Redbook magazine while I was on the plane to Maryland & I ‘dog-eared’ it to remind myself to make it. The first night we were back in town, I made this recipe. I did change some of the ingredients, which I listed. You can find the recipe it is based on here.

Couscous Jambalaya

Ingredients

• Pam cooking spray
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded, diced
• 8 ounce(s) fully cooked turkey sausage, cut into diagonal slices
  
• 2 teaspoon(s) Cajun or Creole seasoning
  
• 2 can(s) (14 1/2-ounce) fire-roasted diced tomatoes, with juices
• 1 box(es) (10-ounce) plain couscous
  
• 1 pound(s) large shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tails intact
  

Directions

1. In a large skillet, heat cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onions, bell pepper, sausage, and Cajun seasoning and cook about 5 minutes, until onions and peppers are softened and sausage is browned.
   
2. Stir in tomatoes and their juices. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 7 minutes. Meanwhile, cook couscous according to package instructions.
   
3. Add shrimp to skillet and cook about 3 minutes, until they’re cooked through. Add couscous to skillet and stir to combine.
   
   
   

Along with it, I made homemade cornbread…I’m not going to post the recipe because I’m still trying to perfect it.

If you like jambalaya, I think you should try it. I can almost guarantee that you’ll love it!

I’m still looking into trying some more recipes with all of these different grains. Maybe next time with be with quinoa…I shall try to conquer that this week

Let’s make this a GREAT week!!

About these ads

Posted by Holly at Everyday's a 'Hollyday' on January 10, 2011

http://greekyogurtandappleslices.wordpress.com/2011/01/10/sick-girl-workout-different-grains/