Trader Joes Reduced Fat Brownies

Posted on July 31, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

My sister told me about this recipe a long time ago so I thought I would post it on here. I’ve been having a hard time remembering what recipes I have tried, so it really helps to blog them and look back on them. Now that school is starting, I am really going to have to rely on Pinterest and blogs to get my meals all organized!

At Trader Joes, they sell a Reduced Fat Brownie mix where all you need to add is yogurt and bake the brownies for 22 minutes on 350 degrees.

To make it a little more “healthy”, I’ve been meaning to use up my greek yogurt in the fridge. I admit using plain yogurt isn’t as good. I have tried it with honey greek yogurt, which makes it sweeter, but my favorite is the blueberry greek yogurt with it. It gives it more flavor and is pretty good stuff.

Just wanted to throw that recipe out there if you have a Trader Joe’s near you. Thankfully, we have had races or trips that have brought me to a Trader Joe’s at least every few weeks. Is it sad that I look one up whenever I go out of town? 🙂

Easy Shrimp Tacos

Posted on July 31, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

We don’t get paid until Saturday so I have to be a little creative as to how I am going to make dinner. Mike and I usually fend for ourselves when it comes to lunch and breakfast, so I really only have to worry about one meal a day. Thankfully, last night I was able to run up to Chick-Fil-A for some dinner, which makes it easier on me! No dishes! Yay!

On Sunday I missed out on my mother in laws cooking (that I was totally depending on!) due to the fact that we slept through dinner, so I had to check out what was in the fridge and freezer and noticed a frozen bag of shrimp and some corn tortillas.

I came up with these little beauties. I sautéed some shrimp in a skillet with a little bit of garlic olive oil and added a dash of garlic salt to give flavor. The best part of shrimp is that it holds flavor really well (just like mushrooms). I warmed up some corn tortillas, added some shrimp sauce, and put some cole slaw mix as a topping. So easy and so good.

Now here’s the best part. I was able to make a really good sauce made with random ingredients from the fridge. I originally was going to try salsa, but we were out of it, so this is what I came up with:

Easy Shrimp Taco Sauce

3/4 cup of mayonnaise or miracle whip

1/2 cup of relish

2 tbsp of taco seasoning mix

1 tbsp of lime juice

2 tbsp of hot sauce

I wanted to add the hot sauce for a little kick and wish I added a little more, but it was good stuff!

Sandia Peak State Championships 2012

Posted on July 29, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

Yesterday we took off to Albuquerque at about 3 in the morning to go race the Sandia Peak Hill Climb. Every year in the NMORS series they choose one race to represent the state championships for mountain biking. A lot of people sign up for it even though there are other races in the series, they are all out to get the state title.

This was the aftermath after trying out a completely different bike without practicing with it a few days before the race. So my word of advice, if you are going to switch from a full suspension bike to a hard tail….don’t race on it the day you switch over. 🙂 I survived though and got first in my category and second overall. 🙂

Mike made it in the time he planned on doing and actually went ten minutes faster than last year! It was a hard race where you lose a lot of momentum, but the downhill is really fun.

With this being my last official week of summer, I am trying to get myself back into a routine for school. I am planning out my morning routine to include a morning workout at home and an afternoon workout right when school ends involving the gym, bike rides, or running. Part of the morning consists of taking care of the animals we have around the house, including the bearded dragon “Angelina”.

Barney is so dang nosey!

We’ve been watching the Olympics a lot and I am loving the swimming and gymnastics portion of it.

Question: If you were in the Olympics, what competition would you take part in? If you were in London, which one would you watch?

Summer of Fitness and Other Nonsense

Posted on July 27, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

I just realized this week that I have less than two weeks left before I go back to school, so I officially have to hurry and get everything done on my to-do list! Panic has struck! I managed to get some back to school shopping in already, but I’m still on the hunt for a decent pair of work pants!

So I am planning a morning routine when school starts that still continues my two a day workout trend I have kept this summer. I was told a lot of gym workouts are found on You Tube, so tonight I gave it a try! I really wanted to try out Insanity because my goal this week is to do straight cardio with no weights. I was told Insanity was way better for that than the usual P90X Lean Routine that I have tried in the past.(P.S. I was able to get down to my lowest weight for my wedding with P90X. See www.beachbody.com .)

This was the site I tried. I used the 20 minute fat burner workout. It’s hard to hear but I just watched the people. You can tell they are all dying because you can hear counting on the DVD but they all just stand there. I’ll keep you posted on more workouts I try out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kuy4x_viY4M

The Olympics are coming!! Here is the schedule in case. 🙂 I am soooooo excited!

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/schedule/

Alright, here are some catch up pictures. Stay tuned for some recipes I have tried! I am on a roll with Pinterest! (I made my mom join today!)

1. Barney tried out a biking jersey in attempt to see if we wanted to use that as his Halloween costume. Nay.

2. My hair is now super light for the school year. Blinding!

3. We have had the worst wind and rain storms and this poor mother bird has had to sit in her nest to protect the eggs. I was stressing whether she would make it or not. She made it!

4. Mike has to sleep in the afternoon due to his graveyard shift and Barney has been trained to sleep at his feet when I run my errands. He and dad are nap buddies.

5. New duck toy. It sqeaks. Not too sure that was a good idea. Why do dogs have toys anyway?

8. I bought a set of curlers to try some different hair styles for school. My attempt at being a girl.

Question: Any exciting things about this summer that have happened? What would you say your summer 2012 theme has been?

Sandia Peak Challenge 2012

Posted on July 27, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

Even though I haven’t been riding the New Mexico Off Road Series as much this year (see www.nmors.org), I still want to give it a shot this year! People get so excited for this race because it is listed as the state championship. Two more hours of registration and there are only two girls racing the sport race! Ha ha! Thankfully, the other girl is in my category so I have some competition.

We decided to pre-ride the course last Saturday and it was so beautiful out. I was able to make it to the top in about an hour and a half. Ned Overend, awesome mountain biker extraordinaire, has made it in about fifty minutes so I will take it.

I love this shot of Mike on the downhill.

The downhill is so fun. It’s very smooth and gradual and it takes about 25 minutes to get down at a quick pace. A lot of people take the lift to the top and then just ride down for fun. We prefer to take the “free” route (that doesn’t cost any money) and ride our bikes up on our own. Plus it gives us bragging rights of being hard-core.

I tried to re-enact Mike’s awesome picture, and instead made the “fish face” and ruined it. (See my Fitness post on how to breathe when running…I am a pro at making the fish face!)

Trying Out Pinterest Recipes

Posted on July 19, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

Like I said in my previous post, my sister showed me some great recipes on Pinterest that I really wanted to try out. I really want to take advantage of the fact that I am not working right now, so I am teaching myself how to cook and bake. It is so fun!

These “Zucchini Chips” were great! All you have to do is put some olive oil on them, and add a mixture of panko bread crumbs, salt and pepper, and a little parmesan cheese. Bake for 22 minutes on 400 degrees…and deliciousness! The link is found here:

http://bakehouse.squarespace.com/home/2011/7/20/zucchini-parmesan-crisps.html

Then I decided to try another recipe that caught my eye because of my HUGE love for chinese food. I don’t live in a town that has PF Changs or Panda Express, so I had to bring the sweet and sour chicken to my kitchen.

It is VERY filling! So you don’t need much of it, which is a good thing. It is around 300 calories per serving so if you portion it right, then it’s not too bad. You don’t have to use all the cornstarch and egg too so it helps to lighten it up. It’s a little messy to prepare, but I give it two thumbs up! Here is the link:

http://life-as-a-lofthouse.blogspot.com/2010/09/baked-sweet-and-sour-chicken-with-fried.html

I don’t know about you guys, but this month brings a lot of entertainment to the household! The Tour De France has been played non stop, especially when there is a certain biking addicted husband in the house. We’re not gonna lie, it’s not as exciting this year since Cadel Evans fell back and Contador (the villain) is not here this year, but it’s been fun watching the drama unfold. Go Wiggins!

“I sure do like this Tour De France! Now buy me a bike…”

We can’t be too sad when it ends because the Olympics thankfully will take over! 🙂

Question: Are you keeping up on the Tour this year? Any opinions about this year’s tour?

Teaching Mountain Biking

Posted on July 17, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

I’m used to teaching middle school science to a bunch of a teenagers that have no interest in it, but changing over to being a mountain bike instructor is a totally different experience. I feel like I am inadequate when it comes to teaching it. My new guinea pig was my sister this weekend. We went to the local bike shop and rented a bike for twenty bucks.

First of all, the bike was extremely heavy, so I felt really bad for my sister, but she was such a trooper. The main thing I would suggest before taking a rookie out is to make sure they have the right gear. Helmet is a must, gloves are nice, and I highly recommend finding spandex for them. I forget how it took me days for my rear end to feel better after riding a mountain bike (especially if you are riding a hard tail).

I took her on a basic trail that was a three-mile loop and then we upped the next ride to a six-mile loop. Mike and I discuss the difference between road and mountain miles and we claim that you take mountain miles and double it to make it similar to each other.

For example, a 9 mile mountain bike ride is the same as an 18 mile road ride. You have to do more miles in road to feel the burn of a 9 mile mountain bike ride.

Anyway, she did great. I kept her in her middle gears and then when we hit uphill, had her switch down to the lower gears, but never touched the big ring. I didn’t use my big ring until I started racing. (In case you don’t know, the big ring is when you have a harder gear to pedal in and it takes a lot of leg work).

I’m so proud of my sister for trying out biking. She did a great job and put forth a great effort. She told me she wants to do it again when she comes back! 🙂 Such a trooper!

Making A List of Recipes

Posted on July 17, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

My sister came into town this weekend and showed me her awesome Pinterest board with all these recipes that I want to try! I need to get on there and just go crazy!

I am on a countdown and only have three weeks until I have to go back to work so I feel like I have to hurry and learn some more healthy ways to cook so that when things start to go crazy, then it’s already instilled in me.

So Albertson’s has a deal for $5.99 a pound crab legs. Just in case you want to know. Crab legs for dinner is a real treat. Take advantage of any deals right now!

Since I am on the 7 Day Carb Cycle diet (which I have lost three pounds already!), I have been working on the High Carb days to eat things that are sugar-free. I went on www.cooks.com and typed in the “Sugar Free Banana Bread” and it tasted great.

Here is the recipe courtesy of www.cooks.com.

Here is the link: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,164,149191-253198,00.html.

Grilled Onion and Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Posted on July 11, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

The day before yesterday I threw some pork and beef broth in my crock pot again. It’s such an easy recipe that I find myself making it every couple of weeks! This time I threw about six or seven whole roasted green chiles into the mix and it broke up in the crock pot perfectly. When I went to put the pork in a Tupperware, both the chiles and the pork broke up perfectly.

Last night we got home a little late for our bike ride, so I wanted to make something quick. I heated up the pork and added bbq sauce to it. I grilled onions in a pan of garlic olive oil and waited until they were caramelized. I put the onions inside a hot dog bun and then added the pork. It was good stuff!

I thought I was going to have a replay of the night before when it came to the storms we keep getting during my riding time. This was the direction on the trail I wanted to head last night.

Thankfully, the weather did opposite. This is what the trail looked like by the time I finished!

How awesome is that??

7 Day Carb Cycle

Posted on July 10, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

I really love the show Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition. It is so inspiring to see the people who are extremely overweight turn their lives around to make things healthier. I think Chris Powell is an excellent trainer and would love to have a job like that one day (after I get my health regimen in order).

I was searching on Amazon for nutrition books and found “The 7 Day Carb Cycle” by Chris Powell. I immediately downloaded and started reading it to give it a try. I only have about four more weeks until I am back at work, so I thought I would try it out and get into a healthy routine before then.

Yesterday was a Low Carb day and the process goes like this:

Sunday: Rest

Monday: Low Carb

Tuesday: High Carb

Wednesday: Low Carb

Thursday: High Carb

Friday: Low Carb

Saturday: High Carb

A high carb day doesn’t mean you eat as many cookies as possible. It’s more healthy carbs alongside protein. Fruits are a really good idea for those days. On the low carb day, it is mainly protein and veggies the whole day. After our 4th of July, I was going through withdrawal on sugar yesterday.

Most people on the reviews said that they lost two pounds the first week. It received four out of five stars on Amazon, so I figure I’ll be a guinea pig and try it out. I’ll keep you posted!

It helps if you cut up your veggies and fruits and leave them accessible in the fridge.

Barney is moping around the house today because of all the rain. Any time we attempt to walk outside, he gets so excited. I can understand since I get a little ancy too when it comes to rainy days. I was a little disappointed yesterday on my attempt to road ride and this beauty of a storm paid a visit.

P.S. Lists are so awesome. Then you don’t have to try to remember everything. When I spoke in church on Sunday, I was talking about how I write lists all the time. A lot of girls came up to me afterwards talking about their lists and their husbands told me that their wives are obsessed with them. Ha ha. Must be a girl thing.