In a funk

Blahhh.
That is how I have been feeling lately. I haven't been working out, eating healthy, or sleeping well. It's time to get my butt into gear and get back on the horse.

I went to the gym today, and stepped on the scale. I went from 118 (the start of summer) to 127. It's so discouraging. I think I might be having a reaction to gluten or soy. I have been feeling lethargic, having muscle aches, stomach pains and headaches lately. I'm going to have to start tinkering around with my diet to figure out what it is.


My workout plan for the week: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/body-transformation-pta-hotness.html

Dinner this week:
BBQ Chicken Quesadillas with grilled marinated veggies on the side (so good!)

BBQ Chicken Quinoa Bowls

 Grilled Green Chicken with Coconut Rice and Beans

I have been trying to avoid wheat and see how my body reacts. If you have any good recipes that I should try, please help a girl out :)

Pierogi

Last night a couple of us were discussing delicious food items we were unable to get in West Virginia. I really shouldn't complain, because I live across the street from the nicest Kroger in the state. Someone told me they drove an hour to go to this Kroger because of the wine specialist and the sushi guy. Not to mention they have Boars Head deli meat and cheeses. The good stuff. Anyways, the topic of good quality pierogi came up. One guy was saying that Pittsburgh has amazing pierogi places, and he drives 4 hours just to pick up a batch a few times a year. My boyfriend LOVES pierogi, brats and kielbasa. Since I have nothing but free time on my hands, I'm going to make that man some fresh homemade piergoi from scratch (and also freeze some to give to the other crazy kid so he doesn't have to drive 4 hours). Kielbasa and pierogis are on the menu for today.

Did you know that pierogi is actually plural for pierog? So the term pierogis or pierogies is incorrect. Who knew?

Here are somethings I wish I could get in West Virginia:
Trader Joe's
Whole Foods
Cool Greens (salad/wrap place in OKC)
Which Wich
YogurtLand
Acai Bowls
Brick oven pizza
Korean Food
Real Mexican restaurants
Kabobs
NY pizza
Alfalfa sprouts (can't find them in any grocery store)
Pho (only place is 45 minutes away, and it's mediocre at best)
.. the list goes on.

Back to the little polish dumplings.. The dough was the hardest part. I always have a hard time kneading, and getting a good balance between the sticky/dry dough. I let the dough rest for half an hour, used a pint glass to make circles, and used a fork to crimp the edges. I used this recipe. I froze them before boiling them (I read online that it helps prevent them from busting open). I just simply put them on a baking sheet lined with wax paper & stuck them in the freezer for an hour. Afterwards I threw them into a ziploc bag and called it a day. Next time I think I'll let Mrs. T do the pierogi cooking. This process is wayyyyy too time consuming.

photos (left to right): mixing the wet ingredients, shredding the cheese, mashing the potatoes, wrapping the corned beef/sauerkraut/potato pierogi, cutting the dough, freezing the pierogi, and ziplocking the pierogi
Sorry this blog is looking so crappy. I have no idea how to design a blog- but I'm googling it now, so hopefully this blog will start coming together. If anyone has any advice, I would be forever grateful.

Herbs and Horchata

Good evening! I just wanted to do a quick post before I go on a little evening stroll. Last weekend I got a CRAZY craving for mojitos (which is strange because I rarely ever drink them.) I convinced my bf that it's way cheaper to plant your own herbs than to go out and buy them every time you need them. So we bought sweet basil and spearmint. I see lots of caprese salads, pesto and mojitos in my future :) This morning I read online that you can replant the roots of the green onion plants, and they will re-grow. I'll let you know how that works out!
 -update: Check out this blog post from Lauryn about the health benefits of fresh herbs. If you don't follow the Skinny Confidential, you're crazy. She's a fashionista, a healthy foodie, a creative bartender, and a workout guru.

Today's workout: I did legs: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-eason-livefit-trainer-phase-2-day-31.html?welcome=true
I followed it with 10 minutes on the stairmaster at level 14, then 5 minutes at level 11 going down the stairs backwards. I have no idea if this is beneficial or not, but I saw someone doing it the other day and decided it was a good way to break up the monotony of going of the stairs nonstop. When I got home I made myself an horchata smoothie fluff. It didn't exactly taste as yummy as a real horchata (a mexican rice milk drink) but it was still delicious.

Horchata Protein Fluff:

1 scoop Isopure vanilla cream protein powder
splash of almond milk, splash of water, or splash of coconut milk
5 ice cubes
1-2 drops of vanilla
a TON of cinnamon
little sprinkle of truvia

Put all ingredients in a blender (I put it in my food processor because my blender was dirty) and BLEND. The longer you blend, the more fluffy and voluminous the protein fluff becomes. It was like eating horchata flavored whipped cream.

For dinner I made this AMAZING recipe: Jamaican Jerk Chicken and the Best Rice Ever. Of course I tweaked the recipe. I added 2 habanero peppers to the marinade and put all the ingredients for the marinade in the food processor. I reserved half a cup of the marinade to use as dipping sauce before I marinated the chicken. For the rice, I added one habanero pepper UNCUT. The tice is supposed to be slightly sweet, not spicy, so make sure you don't break open the pepper! My bf went crazy over the rice, and I LOVED the jerk chicken marinade. I ended up using it as a salad dressing because it was so good! We BBQ-ed the chicken and it came out fabulous.