Home sweet home

This statement is meant in more ways than one. Dennis and I made a trip back up to our hometown for his best friend’s wedding. Going “home” is always nice but I’m always glad to come back home to my own bed, my cats, and my kitchen!

We left after work on Wednesday for the 6 hour drive back to upstate NY and it was go go go from there. Well, more so for Dennis since he was the best man at the wedding, but I found ways to keep myself busy while the boys were being boys.

The weather was gorgeous and cool which was a nice break from the heat we’ve been getting in Northern VA. Thursday and Friday were sunny in the mid 60s and wedding day (Saturday) was sunny in the low-mid 70s, which is perfect in my opinion.

I packed my running sneakers with the intentions of pounding the pavement while I was home but instead of running, I opted to walk with Dennis’ father who walks every morning. He told me he walks four miles “around the block” and when he’s feeling well enough, adds another mile to the loop on the way back. I told him I was up for the entire 5 mile loop if he was feeling it, and boy was he.  Both Thursday and Friday morning included the 5 mile loop, but Saturday I did a shorter walk on my own downtown.

Dennis’ parents live in the country, so our walks were very scenic. Actually, even though I pretty much grew up in the country I forget sometimes how beautiful it is. We saw deer, turkeys, horses and cows while we walked. It reminded me that slowing down is not just nice, it’s necessary. Luckily, it doesn’t take much to get to the countryside in Northern VA, so even though we live in the hustle and bustle of metro DC, we can wind down in just a short 15 minute drive if we so wish.

Anyway, the wedding was a blast. We spent a lot of time being dressed up which was kind of nice.

 

If I could zoom in on those shoes—my sister sent them to me. They killed my feet but I was determined to rock them hard!

Bride and groom gettin busy on the dance floor

Although I didn’t really drink much this weekend (it was open bar but I only had one glass of wine with my dinner. Imagine that!) I still feel like I’m toxic. I brought some food with me so I could eat as healthy as possible but I ended up eating out a lot since we were on the go. The first thing I did when I got home was drink tons of water and eat lots of veggies. It’s 8:30 and as soon as I hit publish I am going to bed!

How was your weekend?

Making food memories

One of the reasons I love to cook and (especially) bake is because of the memories that were made doing these things while I was growing up. Everything in our family revolves around food. Everything. I know ours in not out of the ordinary in this aspect (and this aspect only since my family is crazy) but it’s just something we all can relate to. When someone does something nice for me, I bake for them. If they are hurting, suffering, sick, mourning; you name it: I will bake and/or cook my face off for them to show my affection. It’s how I roll.

This has become part of life with Dennis. We both love to cook and try new things. If it’s a failure we laugh about it. If it’s a success, we brag about it. My grandmother likes to pay us with food. When she found out that Dennis loves her black beans, every time she needed something done she’d cook them for him. Last week he traveled to Arizona (where she lives now) for work and we all joked that she would probably show up at his hotel room with black beans. The first thing she said to him was “I would have made you Frijoles negros but I don’t have a stove in my apartment anymore!”  She recently moved to an independent living facility since she’s 90 years old and couldn’t be trusted in the house alone anymore. She can still cook up a storm though!

We have a neighbor who also likes to cook (hi Sue!) so we enjoy swapping foods. Today, for instance, I brought over some rice and beans and came home with fresh zucchini and Quinoa salad. Win/win in my eyes.

I don’t know how to make rice and beans for 2 people, so I always have enough to feed the neighborhood. I took this picture with my phone to send to my mom and sister. They both responded with lots of yums and indicated they were jealous in some way or another. Since I’m the baby I’ve spent the last five/six years trying to perfect our traditional Puerto Rican recipes so I can teach my kids to cook too someday.

I also made my own soy green tea latte with the last of the matcha tea I bought at our local farmer’s market. My tea lady hasn’t been back since 4th of July so I need to get my matcha green tea from somewhere else now. I bought some from Teavana but the quality wasn’t as good. Come back tea lady!!

Do you have any food memories with friends and/or family?

Mine include my grandmother’s frijoles negros, her breakfast custard called Crema, (OMG it’s so bad but so good) and a fork and dish she gave me when I was a kid that I still use today; my mom’s potato salad, flan, watching her teach Dennis how to make a few very key Puerto Rican recipes,  and the Thanksgiving when I was designated the family baker.  I was 14. My mom put my sister in charge of the pumpkin pies and they came out horrible. My job was apple pie and it came out perfect. Now I honestly don’t have a taste for either. Go figure.

Why am I so itchy??

All week I’ve been itching like crazy. I have a few red bumps (small ones) on my arms, back, and thighs but it doesn’t look like anything out of the ordinary. Not like bug bites or anything like that. Little red tiny little guys. My arms, legs, thighs, back, sides, shoulders…they all itch. And it’s been going on all week. What is up with that??

I managed to ignore the itching through my awesome lunchtime workout today. I brought the plank back into my life and I think it’s here to stay.

Have you tried doing these on a balance ball or bosu ball? Holy cow that is hard! However I think it’s hard enough on the floor. I did three rounds of planks (including side planks) with one round on the balance ball, one round on the bosu and one on the balance ball (all side planks were on the floor.)

I am a firm believer that there is no better workout for the core than planks. This is my opinion, I’m sure there are people who may disagree, but honestly-these things are bad ass.

I had 30 minutes to get in a good workout so here’s what I did:

First 1o minutes: Treadmill
5 minutes at 6.0 mph-
2 minutes 6.5 mph
2 minutes 7.0 mph
1 minute 6.0 mph

Next 5 minutes: Strength
Plank on balance ball-held for 30 seconds, side planks on floor, 30 seconds each side
Lunges/bicep curls with 5 pound weights-count of 20
Squats/arm rows with 5 pound weights-count of 12

Next 5 minutes: Treadmill
2 minutes at 6.5 mph
2 minutes 7.0 mph
:30 seconds 7.5 mph
:30 seconds walk

Next 5 minutes: Strength
Same as above, except planks were on the bisu ball (with one added on the floor at the end)

Next 5 minutes : Treadmill
2 minutes at 6.5 mph
2 minutes 7.0 mph
:30 seconds 7.5 mph
:30 6.0 mph
1 minute walk

The total time ended up being around 33 minutes.  I was able to get back to my desk exactly an hour after I left. Perfect.

Back to being itchy…I’m going to take some Benedryl in a few minutes to see if that helps. I’m wondering if I’m having an allergic reaction to something….

Happy Friday!

Rainy days and Mondays

If I had to choose a day to stay home sick from work, it most definitely should have been today rather than yesterday. It’s been rainy and dreary all day today; a definite stay home under the covers type of day. Sometimes I don’t mind the rain but today’s rain included flooding which made traveling around the DC Metro area even more of a mess. Imagine that?

Besides the crappy commute, I am feeling better today. Still a little crampy but better. I even managed to get on the dreadmill today. I did a 30 minute hill walk workout with 5 pound weights. It looked a little something like this:

Minutes 0-5: Warm up 4.0 mph on 5% incline
Minutes 5-10: 4.0 mph, with a bump up on the incline by 1% every minute up to 10%
Minutes 10-20: One minute intervals at 10% incline – 3.0, 3.5, 4.0
Minutes 20-25: 4.0 mph, with a bump up on the incline by 1% every minute up to 10%
Minutes 25-28: Cool down, 4.0 on a 5% incline
Minutes 28-30: 3.5 at 5% incline

Who says you can’t get a good sweaty workout walking on the treadmill?

I was trying to get a close up so you can see the sweat….

This was the perfect workout since I still am not 100%. I didn’t want to overdo it.

I just got my official bib number for the Army 10 Miler and realized that I haven’t run more than 5 miles since 4^th of July weekend so I need to get my butt in gear. The race is October 24.

And then I came home and ate this:

Turkey taco salad. Minus the chips (although I did end up throwing a few in there) But this bad boy was GOOD. A ton of lettuce, avocado, fresh salsa and 99% fat free turkey with a taco seasoning that Dennis threw together. This is definitely one of our “go to” meals. Quick, easy, and healthy.

Do you have a go-to meal that you know you can always count on?

Sick day

I got a phone call on Friday from my doctor’s office telling me I need to come back in ASAP to re-take my urine test. She said it came back abnormal and I might have an infection. I thought it was strange since I wasn’t feeling any type of symptoms but better safe than sorry.

After spending an hour and a half waiting (and that was only after I complained and pretty much demanded my co-pay back … that’s a different blog post) my urine sample showed I have a urinary tract infection (UTI) and I was prescribed antibiotics.

I hate taking antibiotics. And since I didn’t feel any of the symptoms I almost didn’t buy them. My sister convinced me to be on the safe side, so I took my first dose Monday evening along with a probiotic, and shortly after went to bed.

At 1 a.m. I woke up in SO MUCH PAIN. I couldn’t believe it! All of the symptoms I didn’t have suddenly appeared. On top of that, I was nauseas and freezing. I got up and put on wool socks and a hoodie because I couldn’t get warm. Oh, and I was wide awake and all alone since Dennis was out of town last night for work.  Just my luck!

I spent about 2 hours watching Nick@Nite (I don’t remember The Cosby Show being as cheesy as it was last night—still love it though) and sometime after Home Improvement started, I finally fell asleep again. Sometime around 5 a.m. I woke up again with the same pain, but a little subdued, and I promptly sent my boss an email explaining that a sick day was in order.

I have been on the couch all day recovering with a heating pad watching crappy daytime TV and trying to drink as much water as I can. However, my symptoms feel more like a crampy, achy feeling in my ovaries, not so much in the bladder. Is it possible that I had a reaction to the antibiotics? 

Something so simple

We all know that movie theater popcorn is terrible for you. If you check the stats, it looks something like this:

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 124 g - 1 large

Amount per Serving

• Calories 664 Calories from Fat 310

% Daily Value *

• Total Fat 31g 48%
• Saturated Fat 27g 135%
• Sodium 443mg 18%
• Total Carbohydrate 75g 25%
• Dietary Fiber 9g 36%
• Sugars 0g
• Protein 13g 26%

(source-Livestrong)

Microwave popcorn can be a better choice if you buy the low fat, no butter, no salt kinds but let’s face it: nothing beats homemade stovetop popcorn.

However, as much as I love to cook, my first two attempts at making popcorn on the stove failed. The first batch didn’t even pop! I ended up burning the bottom of the pot and nearly setting our kitchen on fire. The second batch – well let’s just say it wasn’t edible. Thank God for Dennis.

What you need:

• An iron pot with a lid. Don’t use glass like I did. It obviously won’t work.
• 1 tbsp. corn oil
  
• 2 tbsp. popping corn
• Salt, seasonings to taste
• Butter if you wish

Heat up the corn oil in the pot on medium heat. After a few minutes, throw on one kernel and let it pop. Pull the pot off the fire and let it cool for a few seconds, then put the rest of the kernels in the pot and put back on the flame. Shake the pot a little and get excited when your popcorn pops. I sure do. (Edited to add: I changed the amount of oil from 3 tbsp to 1 because it was obviously way too much. I was estimating by watching Dennis but when I tried to do it myself I realized 1 tbsp. was more than enough. I'd even edit it down to 2 tsp. FYI)

Give me homemade popcorn on my couch and a bad reality show over fatty, salty movie theater popcorn and what might be a good movie in the theaters any day.

Drop it like it’s hot

I got some good news when I picked up my blood test results today. I dropped my cholesterol by 75 points! I do have to admit that my LDL – the bad cholesterol – is high at 102, and this is consistent with PCOS. But let’s back up a little.

All of the women on my mom’s side of the family have high cholesterol, and the first time I was tested at the age of 14, it was 212. (My seven year old niece already has high cholesterol for her age.) I got it under control a few years ago (down to 186) but then it shot right back up again. Last year around this time it was 256! So it was nice to know that I was able to get it back down to an all time low of 181.

Yay for oatmeal!!