Dinner for One - Lentils and Quinoa

Forgive the ugliness of this meal.  I will also admit that I had a leftover slice of pizza while this was cooking so my portion was quite small.  The main goal of this was to have leftovers that I could put on top of a salad for lunch the next day.

Recipe

1/2 cup Lentils

1/2 cup Quinoa

Stock (I used Mushroom)

1/2 tsp Paprika

Pepper

Both lentils and quinoa have a water ratio of 2 to 1.  Since we have a total of 1 cup of dried goods, use 2 cups of liquid.  This makes it easy to adjust when you want more or less.  I just happened to have some celery that needed to be used so it got diced and tossed in, but it doesn't really affect the dish much so it can be left out.  Combine everything in a pot and bring to a boil.  When it starts to boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for around 15 minutes or until the liquid is all gone.

Possible modifications

This would be really good with other spices, especially curry powder.  I had considered tossing in some hot peppers, but decided I wasn't in the mood.  Get creative with what you have in the pantry and what you are in the mood for that day.

Salad Option:

This is what lunch the next day looked like.  Well worth the effort of the day before, but you could also have just go straight to making this as dinner.  Underneath there is a bed of romain lettuce, parsley and tomatoes.  On top there is the lentil and quinoa mixture plus some goat cheese.  It makes for quite the satisfying lunch considering how much protein is in lentils and quinoa.

Dinner for One - Cabbage Saute

Admittedly this was lunch, but it could just as easily be dinner.  The inspiration for this meal was Reuben sandwich.

1/2 Small Cabbage

1/4 to 1/2 cup Pulled Pork

1 small can Green Chilies

1 tsp Dijon Mustard

1/2 tsp Caraway Seeds

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Toss everything in a skillet and saute on medium heat until the cabbage is tender.  Roughly 10 to 15 minutes.  Serve on top of a toasted piece of bread with some cheese on top.  Obviously the bread and cheese are optional.  What really makes the dish are the caraway seeds.  The caraway seeds provide the distinctive flavor that rye bread has which is goes right along with a Reuben.  If you don't happen to have leftover pulled pork you could easily substitute some other protein, like a sausage link, ground beef or ground turkey.  Whatever you happen to have on hand will work just fine.

Dinner for One - Beets and Millet

It doesn't get much easier than this.  Open a can of beets put half on a plate next to whatever grain you have (I had millet).  Top the grain with a bit of butter and salt and microwave the whole thing.  Top with a bit of goat cheese and dive right in.

This may not be the prettiest picture, but it sure was tasty.

Booty Camp Oct 19 2011

Warm up - Jog two laps around the track

3 circuits of the following.  Place the weights 10 yards apart, going out to 50 yards.

1. Jog to the first weight
2. 10 push-ups
3. Pick up a weight
4. Jog back to the start with the weight
5. Return the weight to its starting position
6. Jog to the start
7. Repeat going to the second weight

After each circuit do 4 minutes of one of the following while holding a weight

• Lunges
• Dead lifts
• Dead lifts with a squat jump

Just for the fun of it CB brought out two 50 lb bags of seed and split us up into two teams.  Then we raced around the track with that bag of seed.  CB got quite the kick out of watching us do it and it really was a good work out.

10 minutes of abs, doing each exercise for 1-2 minutes

• Tick Tocks
• 6 inches (hold your legs straight 6 inches off the ground)
• Flutters (flutter your legs up and down 6 inches off the ground)
• Out/In (spread your legs out and back in 6 inches off the ground)
• Hold your legs straight in the air and reach up to touch your toes
• Keep your feet on the floor and reach up to touch the sky
• Sit in a V position with your knees bent but feet off the ground and then alternate touching the ground on either side of you

Don't forget to stretch afterwards.

Stats

Duration 53:06

Calories 445

Average HR 146
Max HR 181

Fat Burn 12:12

Fitness 40:43

In the news - Farm:Shop

I recently read this article about Farm:Shop.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/oct/07/hi-tech-urban-farming

I have to say I love the idea.  The general premise is that they are growing/raising food in an urban area through volunteers.  They are proving that you don't need the country side to produce food.  One way in which they are doing so is by raising chickens on their roof.  One of these days when there is no threat of abandoning them for weeks at a time I may consider doing something like this.  The unfortunate part is that I really think chickens are disgusting, but they do serve a purpose.  Fresh eggs really are tasty and they work wonders on food scraps.

The other cool part is that they are growing lettuce hydroponically.  If you read closely they learned how to grow the lettuce from people that are growing cannabis in their homes.  Ha!

Perhaps something like this will makes its way to Dallas some day.  Here is to hoping.

I Learned Something - Oktoberfest Beer

Question: What makes a beer an Oktoberfest beer?
Answer:  


For starters and Oktoberfest beer is also called a Märzen.  I would guess they are marketed here as Oktoberfest beers because it is more recognizable than Märzen.  Märzens came about way back in the day when they couldn't brew beer in the summer because it was too hot and there was no refrigeration.  They would brew these beers in March (März) with a higher alcohol content and more hops so they would last through the summer being stored in a cellar.  These beers would then be served at Oktoberfest, giving it the more common name.


For more reading, wikipedia to the rescue
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzen

Happy Drinking!

Booty Camp Oct 12 2011

Warm up
In the shape of a square that is about 20 yards x 20 yards repeat the following for 2 minutes

• Jog
• Side shuffle right
• Jog backwards
• Side shuffle left

Main workout

• 10 sprints up the bleachers - Walk slowly back to the bottom and stop for 10 seconds before going back up so that you are sure to get a sprint instead of a jog
• Jog one lap around the track 
• 20 push-ups
• 20 squats
• 20 lunges - 10 on each leg
• 100 leg flutters - Lay on your back and flutter your legs up and down about six inches off the ground

Abs

1 minute of each of the following

• Superman - Lay on your stomach and raise your arms and legs off the ground as if you were flying like superman
• Continue to lay on your stomach and raise your left arm and right leg while keeping the others on the ground.  Then switch.  Keep switching for the duration.
• Plank
• Straight leg raises
• Bicycle
• Tick Tocks - Raise your legs straight up in the air and lower them from the right side, back up and then to the left side.  We did this one for 2 minutes.

Stats

Duration - 59:26

Calories - 467

Average HR - 141

Max HR - 200

Fat Burn - 18:22

Fitness - 40:54