To celebrate our favorite day of the week, today I have both a workout AND a recipe for you. The workouts = healthy. The recipe = sinful. This combo = Sometimes Healthy!
Wednesday night I headed to NYC for a couple of meetings and to enjoy some quality girl time with my best friend, Michelle. We watched What to Expect and ate ice cream, topped with chocolate sauce AND Cupcake Goldfish. Both she and her husband were shocked at how delicious the Cupcake Goldfish tasted. Yep, this Sometimes Healthy Girl is changing lives, one Goldfish at a time.
Anyway, I planned to try out a track circuit workout at my favorite NYC running spot on Thursday morning, but the weather did not cooperate. Around 9:00, it started raining pretty heavily, and it wasn’t showing any signs of letting up.
So, I did what any hardcore/crazy running girl would do: I threw my iPhone in a plastic bag, laced up my sneakers and headed out for a very wet run. Between there and back to the track, I probably covered about 10 miles, 50% of which was completed in the pouring rain.
Rain will not stop me. I am like an airplane: only blizzards and lightening will slow me down!
And.it.felt.amazing. There is something incredibly liberating about running your heart out as rain pours down on you. In fact, I think I do my best thinking during rainy runs. Thankfully, the weather cleared up just in time for me to start my circuit workout.
So, I washed up, took a quick “selfie” and banged out my new favorite track workout…
This workout is a 5 mile workout, with circuits in between the 800’s that take 3-5 minutes. Trust me, your heart will be pounding by the end. It’s a nice full body workout with no weights required, so that you can do it anywhere!
If possible, I suggest you execute this baby in dry weather, but hey, rain is no excuse to skip out on a workout ;-).
While I was running in the rain, the soccer team that you see warming up in the above picture was staring at me from the sidelines. I am pretty sure that their coach told them if I was able to run in the rain, then they better be able to practice as well! Sorry fellas!
Check out my view on the way home as the clouds started to lift.
Priceless.
Okay, I still heart NYC just a little bit.
We have now completed the healthy portion of this post. So, let’s talk scones! For some reason, I’ve had it in my head that scones are very complicated to make, but after watching a YouTube video on scone-making, I felt much more confident.
What did we do before the internet??
Like cookies, scones are one of those foods that are relatively difficult to healthify (but I’ll try one day!). Real butter is essential for texture and to hold the scones together, so I was not about to try making scones for the first time with lowfat butter.
The key to these Chocolate Date Scones is the sea salt, which really brings all the flavors together. Sea salt is the secret weapon in most of my recipes…so I guess it’s not a secret anymore! Also, the butter must be cold. If it’s too soft, it will completely change the texture of your scone.
These puppies are TASTY
This is the perfect breakfast to eat right before you attempt my Count Up Track Workout!
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup chopped dates
- 1/2 cup Almond Milk
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. You can also use your hands. Just be sure the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.
- Stir in the chocolate chips and dates.
- Add Almond Milk and vanilla to the mixture.
- Stir just until the dough comes together (add more Almond Milk or flour as necessary). Do not over-mix the dough.
- Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times and then pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches round and about thick. Cut this circle in half, then cut each half into 4 pie-shaped wedges (triangles).
- Place the scones on the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with a little milk.
- Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick or fork inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool.
For my first attempt at scones, this recipe blew me away! The scones are dense, yet moist, flavorful and filling. The dark chocolate and dates complement each other perfectly.
Here’s how it went down in the kitchen.
If you want the nutrition facts I have them. Ask, and ye shall receive.
As I mentioned Monday, I actually made these for our German visitors, because I wanted them to feel like they were staying at a bed and breakfast…
Unfortunately, they have never had a scone before, and since I can’t force scones down their throats (I’m not sure that’s very hospitable), I’ve had to eat most of them myself.
Will someone please come over and help me finish?
QUESTION:
Have you ever made a scone before? Favorite breakfast bakery?
What are your thoughts on running in the rain? Hardcore or crazy?
Never made a scone before but LOVE to eat scones 🙂 These sound delish! I wonder if coconut oil would work in place of butter, if it were also in it’s hardened form.. hmmm! Running in the rain is okay once in awhile, but I’m always so afraid its going to ruin my phone even in plastic! Also, I like to wash my hair as little as possible and rain makes it an automatic hair wash day 😉 Definitely makes you feel badass during!
I know the feeling – I was SO scared my phone was going to break the whole time. Thankfully, some nice people from the parks and recreation team gave me a bigger plastic bag.
Coconut oil is definitely and interesting idea…I’ll look into it!
Great circuit! I always feel hardcore when running in the rain, then I remember how much I Hate having wet clothes and start feeling extremely uncomfortable. The scones sound delicious!
Yeah, towards the end, those wet clothes were really weighing me down. Plus, I felt like I was going to get sick all day. Luckily, I see to have survived!
Cupcake goldfish are scary good. And, here I thought I was the only one who knew ha. I’m trying to push myself to run more outside when the conditions are 100% perfect. I’m even thinking of signing up for a November 10 miler…snow…wind..cold AHHH
Always nice to discover another lover of cupcake goldfish. They are so delicious on ice cream.
Sign up, sign up, sign up! You’ll feel so great when you finish!
I would run in the rain too if I had such a view to reward me at the end. We are both on the same wavelength regarding the salt in sweet baked goods- I literally put a dash of salt in everything, and it totally brings out the flavour, especially in oatmeal!
Sweet n’ Salty = the best wacky combo in the world! Yeah, that view is pretty darn awesome.
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I LOVE scones and am always searching for good ones. While I don’t typically make my own, I will try these as it is hard to find a good one here where I live in NOT New York city!
Laine Klokner at healthyblueliving.org recently posted…When the snowing gets tough