I’m proud to report that I’m feeling much better and can finally eat more than soups and ice cream! Just in time for “What I Ate Wednesday” (WIAW).
This festive edition of WIAW features not only my meals, but also a workout for your holiday weekend and a tasty cookie recipe that’s sure to be a crowd pleaser.
I have a lot to cover, so let’s dive right into breakfast!
Favorite Childhood Breakfast?
When I was younger, french toast was one of my favorite breakfasts. It always felt so luxurious! We never ate it at home, so I always ordered it when we went out to breakfast. I therefore assumed that it was very difficult to make it home.
Now, that I’m older, I realize that french toast is actually very easy to whip up, so easy that I can make it in a flash on a weekday! I dipped some wheat bread in a simple mixture of 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup egg substitute and some cinnamon and vanilla . Then, I fried it up, and smeared it with a heaping tablespoon of butter and apple butter.
Sometime Healthy Chef Special…comin’ right up!
Fancy breakfast in five minutes! I’m special.
A Snap, Crackle, Pop Workout
After breakfast I was feeling so energized (and not sick) that I decided to head to my gym for kickboxing. Kickboxing is a class that I took religiously at my “lavish” NYC gym. It was a fast-paced class with lots of kicks and combinations that always kept me on my toes. While the classes out here are a little different (Les Mills Body Combat), I really enjoy them as well. Body Combat has less lengthy combinations, but a lot more movement around the room.
This is serious, YO!
I had not gone to kickboxing in a while, and I had never been to yesterday’s instructor. She did a great job revving up the room, and the class was a lot of fun! At one point, she asked us to punch somebody that we were holding on the ground (fake of course) and said, “Now do it hard! They think you are girls are crazy. Show ’em! Show ’em you’re crazy!” It made me laugh, because sometimes I do feel a bit ridiculous punching the air. But, at the end of the day, the instructor’s right: embrace the crazy!
So, anyway, I was feeling so inspired after kickboxing that I actually created my own “Bring Your Own Workout” (BYOW) kickboxing routine for the holiday weekend. It’s a 15 minute workout that you can repeat as many times as you want. Remember, when it comes to kickboxing, you burn more calories when you punch stronger and faster. If you use little energy on your punches, then you’re not going to get a high calorie burn. So, go ahead, unleash your crazy! Find an empty room before the 4th of July festivities kick off, and bang out this workout! All you need is some motivating music!
If you have questions about how to execute any of the moves, reference this article from Fitness magazine. This post does a great job of breaking it all down.
Lunch: Starbucks Fail
I ate lunch at Starbucks, while working on a couple of items. I finally had my first semi-disappointing meal at Starbucks! I ordered the Hearty Veggie and Brown Rice Salad Bowl, which featured butternut squash, kale, beets and other delicious veggies.
Not what I expected…
I think it was just a lot less “hearty” than I pictured. However, as per usual, my Passion Iced Tea was on point. Unfortunately, the internet was also a disappointment at Starbucks, so I had to leave rather quickly.
When I got back to the land of functioning internet, I snacked on my favorites: pretzel and smores goldfish.
This never gets old.
A couple hours later, I dug into some Strawberry Banana Chobani, while flipping through Health magazine. I must say that I like the 2% Chobani much better than the fat free flavors. So much creamier and filling!
Oh please, enlighten me with this wisdom!
Notice the article, “How to Never Overeat Again.” I read it. I’m not a believer. There is no magical mind trick that will prevent me from devouring an entire bag of Cupcake Goldfish. Sorry for partying.
Dinner: Taco Tuesday Returns!
Did I mention that my BF was in China ALL last week for work? Yep, the lucky guy was gone the entire time I was sick…I think he planned it that way. Anyway, he got back on Sunday, and I was one happy girl. He even took pictures of some of his meals for me, because I was curious about what real Chinese food looks like. What a guy!
To show him my appreciation for his return, I made him a meal I knew he missed while he was in China: Taco Tuesday!
Yesterday’s Taco Tuesday featured shredded rotisserie chicken (I didn’t feel like cooking it myself), homemade tortilla chips, corn guacamole and sauteed veggies. Once again, to save on dishes, I served the toppings in a muffin tin (this is literally the most genius idea I have discovered in all of 2013).
Taco Tuesday is SERVED!
The tacos hit the spot, and then the BF dragged his jetlagged butt to bed, full and happy.
Now, that’s a taco!
Dessert: Late Night Baking Session
We’re headed further upstate to a friend’s house for the 4th of July, so I just had to volunteer to bake some treats. The BF and his friends requested plain chocolate chip cookies, which meant I HAD to make two different kinds of cookies. Chocolate chip cookies bore me, especially on the holidays. Everything’s better with a twist, y’all.
Let’s get creative, people!
I had some white chocolate chips and butterscotch chips in the pantry, so I decided to make my own recipe from this combo. And of course, I added a little holiday flair, in the form of red, white and blue sprinkles.
Everything is better with sprinkles. Truth.
The resulting cookie was sinfully sweet and supremely delicious. If you need a last-minute holiday cookie recipe, you must try this!
**Loosely adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod
Here are the secrets to this cookie: Jello Pudding (makes them soft and moist) and sea salt (adds a kick after you bite into the sweet cookie). Look at these babies! My best cookie yet!
Cookie perfection has been achieved!
You can bet I enjoyed one (or maybe two…) for dessert, as I worked on the rest of my festive creations.
Uh oh. Someone please stop me.
I mentioned the BF requested plain chocolate chip cookies…but he didn’t say anything about the color of these cookies!
Sometime Healthy Never Goes Plain Jane
Muaahahaha. I fulfilled his request but added my own holiday flair. Red, white and blue dark chocolate chip cookies.
Now, that’s more like it!
For this recipe, I actually used the back of chocolate chip bag, because I wanted something simple and reliable.
There is a “secret recipe” on the back!
As I made the cookies, I couldn’t help but think of one of my favorite episodes of Friends, where Phoebe and Monica scramble to recreate Phoebe’s grandmother’s famous chocolate chip cookies after it burns in a fire. Monica, the chef, even goes as far as trying to deconstruct the flavors from the last frozen batch. After they jump through various hoops trying to discern the magic recipe, Phoebe inform’s Monica: “Well, y’know I may have relatives in France who would know. My grandmother said she got the recipe from her grandmother, Nesele Tolouse”
Oh, yeah, that’s the one!
Monica then grabs a bag of “Nestle Tollhouse” chocolate chips and asks Phoebe if THIS is the secret recipe. One of my favorite Friends episodes EVER.
Anyway, the colorful cookies turned out a little less stellar than I had hoped. I ran out of real butter, so I had to substitute yogurt butter for half of the recipe. This made the cookies bake slower, and the texture was a bit dense. Just goes to show you: when you bake cookies, you gotta use the full fat goodness. Sometimes Healthy Fact.
Still festive, but not a homerun.
The final treat of the evening was made special for my BF who loves a good Rice Krispie Treat Cake.
Nothing says patriotic like Rice Krispie Treats!
To make this treat, I simple divided the Rice Krispie mixture into three and patted into the pan using parchment paper. And yes, as I mixed, they did, “Snap, Crackle, POP!” You MUST use parchment paper to create this dessert, or your fingers will be covered in colored Rice Krispies. Not a good look, my friends.
Anyway, when all was said and done, I was up until midnight baking and cleaning, but at least wound up with some tasty treats!
Think I baked enough?
And, I had my clean-up crew by my side all night eagerly awaiting for his messy chef to drop some morsels.
Drop that dough. Drop that dough. I shall make you drop that dough with the power of my puppy dog eyes.
Well, that was quite a mouthful! (pun intended) I have quite a bit to do before we leave for the holiday.
Have a happy happy 4th of July (let me know if you use my recipe or workout!)
YOUR TURN:
Plans for the Fourth? What’s your go-to holiday workout?
Favorite Friends episode?
Cookies: simple or with a twist. What do you prefer?
You are a 4th of July baking queen!! Everything looks delicious :).
And I don’t buy that magazine recipe either. No way will I ever not overeat again!
You must try the cookies! They were a hit!
Cookies are always more fun with a secret twist or ingredient 🙂
The Sea Salt is amazing – try it in your next cookie 🙂
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My favorite cookies are the old recipes that come from a few generations ago. My husband thinks that Grandma Eva’s Oatmeal cookies are the best. They are a twist on the oatmeal raisin cookies. There is a recipe for them on my blog. 🙂
Sounds delicious! I’ll check them out 🙂
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