Body: Stagnant

Date: Wednesday June 4
Weight: 125
To Go: 5 pounds

I'm totally f-ing up this whole work out thing.

Actually, down one since last week, so that's excellent! I hit the gym on Monday and met the most fantastic instructor on the freakin' planet. She was so excited to be there that I was excited to be there. I wanted her to throw her best at me. And she did! I don't know if I've ever worked out so hard. I even "WOOOP"ed when she said "How you feelin' Sherman Oaks!?" I hate when people do that. I will be attending every single one of her classes from here on out.

And I have a new structured plan. I must have structure... no running around willy nilly. Luckily for me, I can create my own structure and once I'm in it, I can stick to it. So, for every bad calorie I eat, I'm going to do one crunch. 150 calories on an ice cream snack? 150 crunches! I think this will be excellent.

We've been hiking again. I forgot how much I love it. There's a great trail off Mulholland that goes down into a "rainforest." There used to be a rope swing, but it's now gone. It's about 30 minutes down. You start at the top and it's quite hilly on the way down. So you're not going straight down and then straight up. Each way is a lovely combination. But the last hundred yards will kill you. We did it once last summer with no water. Half way through the last bit I literally thought I would gasp my last breath on the side of that mountain. That last push at the end is so amazingly wonderful. It's all over grown now. It almost feels like the east coast, which I love! Except that I know how poison ivy all over my legs. Sexy. And itchy.

Cooking: BBQ & Potatoes

I cheated tonight. The other day at the store I thought this BBQ bowl of stuff looked tasty. And excellent in case I needed to throw something together real quick. I was proud of myself because I usually just make Chris do something if there's no time. Prepared!

Tonight was that night. I didn't get home until 8. Chris had to leave by 9 to do some recruiting for work. Quick quick quick.


I bought a mandolin for just this reason. Target didn't have any nice ones, so I went with the crappy one. Works quite well actually. Baked Sweet Potato Chips. Fan-freakin-tastic. I sliced them and then rolled them around in a bowl with some olive oil, nutmeg, cinnamon, all spice and onion powder. Yeah, I grabbed some stuff off the shelf and threw it in.


The chips came out quite nicely! I think next time I will slice them a bitter thiner so they get really crispy. I prefer super crispy.


Dinner was on the table less than 30 minutes after I walked in the door. Not too shabby! The BBQ was a tad bit sweet, but pretty good for something that comes in a plastic tub and just needs to be heated.

Cooking: Skirt Steak

I am on a freakin' roll! Well, almost. I forgot to make dinner.

I had planned to have dinner ready when Chris came home. But I forgot. I got worked up into something and he came home. Opps.

So I scrambled. I bought some skirt steak yesterday with no plan.


I made Chris walk me through it. No time for fancy recipes. It was late and I was hungry.

Olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder. Rub. Flip. Repeat. Broil for 4 minutes. Flip. Repeat. Done.

Holy crap it was simple.


Green Beans. Olive Oil. Garlic Salt. Almonds. 10 minutes.


And it was fantastic! I'd highly recommend.

Cooking: Crab Cakes

I didn't know what I wanted to make for dinner last night. Chris isn't coming home until around 8:30 these days, so it seems dumb for me not to make dinner. Good wife and whatnot. But I was stumped. When I got to Howe's I headed for the magazine rack, grabbed a Cooking Light and thumbed through it. Everything looked excellent, but nothing hit the spot. Until I flashed across the crab cake page. There's nothing I love more than crab cakes. I grew up on the coast of North Carolina and we went crabbing for fun. Small town, nothing to do. So, I ate a lot of crab.


Done. Crabcakes. Summer salad. Couscous. Delish.

Crabcakes are surprisingly easy to make. And this was the fancy version! My stepfather does them super simple... freshly picked crab, Old Bay, a few bread crumbs. They're excellent.

I made a few changes. I hate parsley, so I used dill instead. Thought it might be interesting. Couldn't taste it. I also didn't use the red bell pepper. I hate it. We were also out of paprika. So I used some cayenne pepper. I don't know if this is a substitute, but they're both red. And it tasted yummy.

I burned mine a tad... too close to the broiler. Didn't matter though. They were so freakin' tasty.
Crab Cakes (from Cooking Light Magazine)

1 pound lump crabmeat
1/2 cup crushed whole wheat crackers
1/3 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1/3 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon Hungarian paprika
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 large egg whites
Cooking Spray
4 lemon wedges

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Mix the first twelve ingredients together in a medium bowl. Divide mixture into 4 equal portions, shaping eacch into a 1-inch-thick patty. Place patties on a bakin sheet coated with cooking spray. Broil 3 inches from heat for 10 minutes or until browned. Serve with lemon wedges. Yield: 4 servings

Calories: 280
Fat 10.3 g
Protein 25.2 g
Carb 21.9 g

Baking: Strawberry & Banana Bread

I'm so bad at eating fruit before it goes bad. But I feel dumb buying one banana. If I have just one, I might want another. And then I won't have it. So I buy four. And they all go bad. I am a genius.

But rotten banana=banana bread! I googled "rotten bananas" to see what would pop up. Some muffins, some cakes, some breads. But this one caught my eye, Banana Bread with Booze and Raisins. Love Banana.Love Bread.Love Booze. Love Raisins. Perfection.

But I had a bunch of strawberries that were on their way out. So I substituted strawberries for raisins.

I also took out the walnuts. Mostly because I don't like them.

It ended in a tasty disaster. I didn't drain the booze because I didn't let it soak for an hour. So it was quite moist. And the strawberries are more moist than the raisins. So, it's almost swimming in moistness. It fell into a pile of disaster when I took it out of the pan. I'm going to call it Bread Pudding.

Cooking: Best Dinner EVER

Does it count as cooking if I just put some stuff on a cutting board and serve?

Yes, because it was the BEST dinner ever! Brie, smoked cheese, crackers, salami (my new favorite), strawberries, apples and grapes.

I even ate the leftovers the next night. And I hate leftovers with a passion!

Where Did Time Go?

I moved to LA on a Saturday. And bought a gym membership on Tuesday. I'd never paid for a gym before and this was a whole new thing to wrap my mind around. I always just had one... school, home, etc.

So, I got talked into a three year plan. Pay up front for three years and the cost per month is incredibly low. Plus there were all kinds of extras. I did some math and realized that paying for three years up front was about the same as paying for one year month-to-month. I had a 12 month lease on my fabulous little studio, so I knew I'd be around for at least that long. I wondered if I would actually make it to the end of three years. Would I still be going to the gym? Would I still be in LA? Would Chris and I still be together? Three years seemed like an eternity at the time.

Yesterday, when I handed them my card to check-in, I was reminded that my membership was past due. HOLY CRAP! I didn't even realize that I'd hit the three year mark.

Things have changed a bit... Different job, different home, different gym, different car, different marital status. But they've also kind of stayed the same. Same love, same city, same company.

My mom didn't lie, the older you get the faster time flies.