Tony doesn’t like to eat breakfast. Like hardly ever. On the weekends its usually closer to noon before he eats, and there is a fine window of when breakfast is no longer appropriate. You will never find Tony eating breakfast for dinner unless he’s had a stroke, can’t speak and I’ve dressed us in matching jackets.
Muffins though? Those are an anytime snack. I had some really ripe bananas, and made him some banana muffins the night before last. He tasted the batter (um, I’ve been known to leave out the sugar in muffins on more than one occasion!) and he liked it!
Until they came out of the oven and tasted them. He said they had a weird aftertaste – the recipe called for 3 cups of flour to 4 teaspoons of baking soda which made 16 muffins – maybe the baking soda was too strong? Well, I brought them to work and everyone like them, to which Tony said “people will eat free food at work if its been sitting by the coffee for three days.” Touché.
So since I don’t bake that often, can you link or leave in the comments your tried and true muffin recipes? I’d appreciate it!
So it was rise and shine yesterday! I love taking the back roads – not a lot of traffic – and for the record, I was stopped in the road, not driving and taking a picture. 
It was back and biceps on the strength training menu. Check it out!
Cardio: 30-second sprints on treadmill; Level 8; 30 seconds on/30 off; 30 minutes total Um, yeah – WITHOUT the cardio that routine took me 60 minutes! It doesn’t seem like much, but 3 sets of 20 is a lot. I ended up pushing the cardio to lunch. Still smiling after 60 minutes though!
Okay, see that pink underneath my diet coke shirt? I got that from a company to promote workout gear, which then quickly went out of business. I couldn’t even find the name of it, but I LOVE that shirt – it’s a tank, and it’s made by NUX. For those of us who have, ahem, a muffin top, that shirt holds everything in, while I am doing weights, running, etc. LOVE. I had 1/2 a cup of granola before working out, then more jalapeno quiche for breakfast with Chobani and fruit later in the morning.
I was super busy at work yesterday, which I love. It makes the day go by so fast, and before I knew it, it was time to head back to the gym. Now it said for cardio “8.0 mph – 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off.” I took that as run 30 seconds at 8.0 (which is a 7:30 minute mile pace!) and then bring the pace down and walk the second 30 seconds and back and forth. Well, by the time that I ran 30 seconds at 8.0, then reduced the speed to 3.7 to recover, it was almost time to bring it back up to sprint! So I ended up doing 1 minute at 8.0 and 1 minute at 3.7 for 30 minutes.
With a cool down, I did 3 miles. But what I thought about later in the afternoon is I think I am supposed to keep the speed at 8.0 the whole time, and then jump off for the 30 second rest? It’s on tap again today, so I am going to try it – although the mileage won’t be as accurate since I am stepping off half the time! Do you think that’s what it means 30 seconds on/off?? And the gym? Completely empty. Now is the calm before the January 1 storm!
I ended up having a huge ass salad with leftover turkey cutlet from our sammies the night before. Well, my lunch was mostly veggies with about 3 ounces of turkey and 303 calories.
About an hour after I ate I was so hungry!! So, I took half of Tony’s blueberry muffin. I have to admit, it was pretty good – I am calling half of it 200 calories.
Dinner was quick and easy – Chicken Marsala for Two – except this time I cut up the chicken into bite size pieces, and I added a cup of broccoli to mine. I just tossed the broccoli in the pasta water for the last two minutes.
Alright, I am off the gym for chest/shoulders. Fingers crossed it doesn’t take me an hour to get through it! Stats for the Day:
Make it a great day! |
You and Tony CRACK ME UP!! Love seeing your convos. 🙂 And yeah, I think 4 t of baking soda is way too much for 3 c flour. I once only used 1/4 teaspoon of soda in a banana bread recipe (no other leavener, either) and was so shocked it rose just like if I had used a more usual amount, like one teaspoon. Sometimes I think it’s overused.
I love pumpkin anything – thanks Abbe!
I love these pumpkin, brown sugar, chocolate chip muffins. You can’t really taste the pumpkin but they are loaded with flavor. He may have to join you for cardio after one of these! Perfect for the season!
http://thisishowicook.blogspot.com/2011/11/pumpkin-brown-sugar-muffins.html
Great job with the cardio intervals and the strength training.. I’m not a good at baking muffins (or many things), so I’m gonna creep some of your recipes.
I don’t bake much either Hope – so I am glad to get so many muffin links! 😀
That workout sounds awesome – you go! 🙂
Here are some of my favorite muffins from my blog:
http://cupcakemuffin.blogspot.com/2012/10/blueberry-almond-muffins.html
http://cupcakemuffin.blogspot.com/2012/04/whole-wheat-muffins-with-figs.html
http://cupcakemuffin.blogspot.com/2010/12/lemon-cranberry-muffins.html
http://cupcakemuffin.blogspot.com/2009/12/pumpkin-walnut-muffins.html
Hmmmm – that strength workout is killer! That would take me about an hour easy, I think 😀
Yep, I kept thinking of Helen because she said after 15-20 minutes she’s done with strength. I thought it was never going to end! But I have to say, the strength is changing the shape of my body – on November 30 I’ll be doing my measurements again and comparing them to June 1 when I started getting serious. 😀
Looking good, my dear! You and Tony crack me up!!
Thanks AM! Yep, I can really only show some of our texts to the public – we can get pretty crazy! 😀
Yeah, that seems like too much baking soda. It probably tasted funky and sour. Eww!
Fabulous timing! I just posted a chocolate zucchini muffin on my healthy cooking blog.
http://bloginspiredcooking.blogspot.com/2013/11/sneaky-chef-chocolate-zucchini-muffins.html
The non-chocolate original recipe from Cooking Light looks good, I’m definitely going to make it some day.
Chocolate+zucchini = happy Biz! Thanks for the link Jessica!
Yea for muffins!! These are delicious and make me really happy 🙂 They also use bananas! http://a-life-from-scratch.com/these-muffins-make-me-happy-really-happy/
Thanks Courtney – I can’t wait to try these!
Nice run either way! I do interval speed training on the treadmill and I bring it down to a comfortable slow jog then bump it up again. I don’t worry too much about going exactly 30 seconds or a minute just as close as possible. I find jumping on and off a bit dangerous especially if the belt is going at 8mph!
This banana raisin muffin (http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=155) is my go to muffin recipe. It is so easy to adapt it to whatever you have on hand. I’ve used pumpkin, zucchini or carrot instead of banana, applesauce instead of the oil, nondairy milk and dried cranberries instead of the raisins. All were tasty!
Those muffins kind of sound like these morning glory muffins my Mom used to make when I was little. Thanks for the link Aimee. And great job on the marathon – 4:15 time is amazeballs!!! So proud of you!
I’m with everyone on the amount of baking soda…i don’t usually use more than a teaspoon or two. I have a few vegan recipes on my blog if you want to check them out for muffins!
Um yeah – these muffins are definitely going to be made soon! I can’t believe I missed these on your blog!!
http://tryingtoheal.com/2012/10/24/recipe-wednessday-pumpkin-struesel-muffins/
I don’t bake – when I make muffins they come from a mix (lame but true!!).
When I do intervals on the treadmill, I do them for a minute (for the same reason you did) – I do the fast speed for the entire minute then slow the treadmill – 10 seconds before the recovery minute ends I bump the speed back up so that I get a full minute at the fast speed.
Thanks Kim, I should have known you would know that! 😀
Ooh, that workout looks tough! I do think on/off means jump off for 30 seconds. When I used to train with a personal trainer, he would run a second treadmill at a walking pace and I would have to jump back and forth. “Off” doesn’t mean the same thing to him! Lol
Here is one of my favorite muffin recipes – http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/grandma-s-honey-muffins – I originally found them in a Taste of Home cookbook which was a compilation of some of the best magazine recipes. The recipe link here is the exact same. B went through a stage where he would ONLY eat honey muffins for breakfast. I always made it with 1 cup AP flour and 1 cup whole-wheat. So, so good! I should probably make a batch soon; it’s only been like two years! 🙂
Oh, those muffins sound so good! Thanks for the link Erin!!
Hey Biz! Not sure if you watched the video for Phase 3, but Jamie shows that with the 30 second intervals to jump on and off the treadmill while it is going 8.0 MPH. (If you go watch the video, it is at the 3:25 mark. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-easons-livefit-phase-3.html) So you start running at 8.0 MPH for 30 sec then you hold onto the handrails and jump off to the sides for 30 sec. Then when the rest time is up, you hold onto the handrails and do a running start onto the moving treadmill for 30 sec. Might want to turn it down to around 6.0 MPH to start to practice and turn if up as you’re comfortable. I’ve done it before and haven’t killed myself! Also, I much prefer it to turning up and down the speed all the time. Hope this helps!
JENN!!! How I miss your blog!! And thanks – you know I should watch the videos that she posts – I may learn some shit like that. Thanks for the heads up! And yes, I think I’ll start at 6.0 so I don’t go flying off the back of the treadmill!
Love your blog! There is a muffin recipe at my blog MamaTCan.
Your strawberry muffins look so good! Not sure I’ve ever had one!
http://mamatcan.com/favorite-muffins-recipe/
They are delicious. Blackberries are good in them too.
There is a recipe on there too for chocolate muffins too. http://mamatcan.com/chocolate-did-somebody-say-chocolate-muffins
I’ve been stuck on Skinny Taste’s recipe for Pumpkin muffins. Use a vanilla cake mix and add 1 can pumpkin, water and pumpkin pie spice. That’s it. I actually made them for me and my hubby loves them and started eating them. We don’t even frost them anymore, they taste good just as they are.
Wow, how simple is that? Did you know that you can take any cake mix and mix it with one can of regular pop and you don’t need to add any oil, water or anything? You can do flavors like vanilla cake with ginger ale – or chocolate cake with root beer. You just have to use real pop (not sugar free).
You look great, Biz!
I don’t bake often, but you should try the Banana Oatmeal Cups with Chocolate Chips I linked to in this blog post: http://seasonitalready.com/2013/11/10/banana-chocolate-chip-muffins-recipes/
There is no flour and they are so easy that I make them whenever I have overripe bananas! My only caution would be that I don’t think they are sweet enough for most people who want a muffin. So add maybe a tablespoon of honey or sugar or use sweetened almond milk.
Actually, I am okay with a not too sweet muffin. I’ll definitely check that out. My husband doesn’t understand the perfect marriage of bananas and chocolate chips! The first time I made him banana chocolate chip bread he nearly freaked out!
My favorite small batch muffins:
http://www.itzyskitchen.com/2013/04/small-batch-vegan-peanut-butter-banana.html
http://www.itzyskitchen.com/2013/10/small-batch-vegan-pumpkin-peanut-butter.html
Other muffins:
http://www.itzyskitchen.com/2012/11/baked-cinnamon-sugar-pumpkin-donut-holes.html
http://www.itzyskitchen.com/2012/08/chobani-pineapple-chocolate-chip-mini.html
http://www.itzyskitchen.com/2010/05/i-love-sc-vegan-coconut-cornbread.html
Hum… that is a lot of baking soda. I think you should have the snowman tree for your desk. If it makes you smile each time you look at it that would be a good purchase. Odd question for you since you eat so much Chobani. I ate a banana Chobani as a snack yesterday and before I finished it my bottom lip swelled up. It stayed that way about an hour. Have you ever had an reactions to any flavor?
Anytime I look at a snowman it makes me happy! Right now I am looking at the Halloween one you sent me – love it!
Wow, that’s so weird? Nope, never had a reaction to any flavor. The only one I can’t find yet is coconut. Have you had any reactions to other Greek yogurts?
No, I have tried a few dozen different Chobani flavors and one other brand of greek yogurt.
I don’t have good muffin recipes but 4 teaspoons of baking soda sounds like a lot. I never have to add more than 1 or sometimes 2 teaspoons and that’s usually for a 4 person recipe.
Dinner looks yummie!
Yep, i think that was my downfall!
That seems like a lot of baking soda for that amount of flour. There’s a cranberry muffin recipe on my blog from a few days ago. My husband is just the opposite, if he had to choose only one meal, it would be breakfast and he wants to eat as soon as he gets up.
Best,
Bonnie
Okay, totally going to check out your cranberry recipe – thanks for the heads up about that being too much baking powder. 😀
http://fromawriterskitchen.blogspot.com/2013/11/cornmeal-cranberry-muffins.html
You interpreted your cardio workout correctly. It says cardio for 30 minutes – so what they’re trying to get you to do is 30 minutes straight of cardio built on 30 second sprints and 30 seconds slower. So you could do 30 seconds of 8.0 followed by 30 seconds of walking or jogging – but DON’T stop completely!
Huge salad is my go to lunch several times a week – easy to make, easy to transport to work and I know I’m getting good nutrition from it.
Thought of you when I bought some adorable snowman wrapping paper at Walmart the other day.
I think you could do 30 seconds of sprinting/30 of walking or jogging on a track, but on a treadmill, you’d have the issue like yesterday. Maybe go all out for the 30 seconds of sprinting and then hop on the rails to recover for 30 seconds (if you recover fairly quickly, just do 15 seconds?). Any case, great job attacking that workout!
I kind of like both your options Helen and Shelley – I think with the 30 seconds on and 30 seconds on the rail, I could push the sprint harder – but obviously would only cover half the amount of mileage. Thanks for the input ladies!
Ha – right now I think I have five rolls of snowman wrapping paper. And I’ve already brought up my snowman blanket – but I just keep it on my side of the bed. 😀