Good afternoon! TGIF!
This morning I was up earlier than usual because I had to do a morning workout. I haven’t been so into morning workouts lately, but oh well. Breakfast was typical for a morning workout: smoothie with vanilla Muscle Milk light and frozen mango and banana, and whole-wheat bread with all-natural PB. And coffee!
After dropping my mom off at work, I came home to a completely quiet house, and was ready to take advantage of that and throw a spinning dance party!
I couldn’t figure out at first why I was just rocking out to my new 45-minute playlist, but then I realized it was because I had brought my speakers home from the studio on Monday night so I could spin with my ipod blasting instead of my laptop. It made a huge difference — I was seriously jamming the entire time. It was a hard workout though, and my hips were definitely still feeling last night’s run! Usually when I spin on my own I do more fast songs than hills, which is what I was doing today…and damn. I kicked my own ass. But I like it hard — at the end I felt so amazing!
Next up for my gym-meets-discotheque session was today’s 100 push-up challenge. I’m definitely feeling the push-ups from Wednesday. Switching to doing push-ups on my toes means I’m engaging my core and back in a major way. For this part of the workout, I went to the club with my White Girl Rap playlist, and did my push-ups to Ludacris. Then I stretched for a good 15 minutes.
Speaking of working out, check out this article over at Beauty Bean — they wrote about my idea of using a hula hoop to work your abs!
After a shower, some relaxation, and some work, I was getting hungry. I had an apple to tie me over until noon and then I started going through the kitchen looking for something different to make for lunch. I started with the Trader Joe’s Indian veggie burgers I bought on my last trip. These are a little lower in protein than I’d like, so I decided to bump it up with some sides. And that’s how I ended up confronting my quinoa fear!
This box of quinoa has been in the pantry for ages, but I haven’t made it yet because — this is so dumb — I couldn’t figure out the deal with rinsing it. You have to rinse it before you make it, but it’s so tiny, I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to use a colander or what. Today I decided to just use a mesh sieve. I have no idea if that’s the right way to do it but it worked!
And thank goodness it did because now I know what I’ve been missing!
I steamed some broccoli (and attempted to make a sweet potato but that was a microwave fail) and mixed some chickpeas into the quinoa for a pretty exceptional meatless lunch!
Everything was so good. The veggie burger is mainly made of potatoes, and it sort of tasted like a hash brown…and there is nothing wrong with that in my book! The quinoa was a definite winner too. I actually like the taste better than couscous; it’s really good. I’m excited to experiment with it a bit more.
I’m heading out and about for the next few hours! I have to run errands, get my eyebrows waxed, and swing by the grocery store for some almond butter, as I am fresh out. And I’m debating picking up some sushi for dins, but we’ll see what my checking account has to say about that!
Have a great afternoon!
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Have you tried cashew butter? It’s my favorite nut butter! On the sweeter side which I like. I got some nice recipes using quinoa off another website, one of which is for “toasted quinoa.” It’s soooo good. Wash 1/3 cup quinoa & drain, mix with 2 tbsp unsweetened coconut (I use sweetened), 1 tbsp maple syrup, and 1 tbsp ground flax (I’ve been skipping this cuz I haven’t bought any yet!). Spread the mixture on a baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve over yogurt with fruit. I make a bigger batch and then put it in a ziplock and use it over a few days. Dude, I see you have the “comments via email” plug-in! Awesome!
.-= Melissa (It’s a Veggieful Life)´s last blog ..I Like Meat. There, I’ve Said It! =-.
May I recommend topping those masala burgers with honey or agave nectar? Two nice alternatives to chutney that you probably already have around the house.
.-= Emily´s last blog ..I am absolutely in love with this fabric from Etsy seller Melbomba:I may buy some and make a… =-.
I’ll have to try that toasted quinoa! I ALMOST bought cashew butter yesterday but it was $4 more expensive so it has to wait…
Welcome to quinoa! I’m not a total fan of the taste (like most people, I understand), but this is my favorite recipe for it: http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2003/10/zucchini_stuffed_with_quinoa_and_ricotta.php
(It has pesto!)…and surprisingly, these little round zucchini squash are hugely popular here in Argentina (hugely!)…but regular zucchini taste the same to me.