A Good Morning

As part of my new plan, I got up this morning and went to the gym before work. Since I didn't work until noon, this wasn't as impressive as it may seem. The real challenge will come when I try to convince myself to be at the gym at 7:30 in the morning. But I did make it there this morning, and spent half an hour on the elliptical machine.

I seem to have a much harder time working out in the mornings. I get worn out much quicker and I just want to stop. I wonder if it's because I don't have as much ready energy available to burn first, even though I always eat breakfast first. But whatever the reason, after about 10 minutes I start telling myself that I'll stop at 20 minutes instead of my usual 30, and I take frequent breaks. Having someone else with me really helps to keep me motivated, even if it's just for the competition. Today, just when I was about to give up, Natalie from the BodyPower class came into the room and started working out. Even though we didn't even speak, just the fact that she was there kept me going. So thank you, Natalie, and I'll try not to think nasty thoughts about you next time you suggest doing tricep dips in class.

And for lunch I tried a new recipe from the cookbook Hungry Girl: 200 under 200. I made the Green Pepper Pizzas, which is pizza sauce and toppings with the green peppers as the crust. It was actually pretty good, but by the time I finished the whole thing, the pepper flavor had gotten a little overwhelming. Maybe next time I'll use a smaller pepper.

Baking Experiment

A couple weeks ago, Steph came across the Deceptively Delicious cookbook while I was working. (Apparently she'd been unaware of it, and the whole concept of deceptively delicious cooking, even though it's been a hot topic of discussion for several months now.) She thought it was a fabulous idea, and suggested that I make something from the cookbook and bring it to the next staff meeting. And today was our first staff meeting in ages, so I accepted the challenge and made the Brownies with Spinach and Carrots from the book. I did a little research on the World Wide Web before hand to find other people's thoughts on the dessert. After all, I have my reputation as a good baker of brownies to protect. I came across this website, and she gave the brownies high praise, along with a couple of tips for making them. As I was short on time, I had the bright idea of using baby food for the pureed carrots, but unfortunately they don't make spinach baby food, so I had to make my own. (Fyi, in case you ever make it, it takes almost 3/4 of a bag to make 1/2 cup of pureed spinach.) I also made the mint icing and chocolate glaze from this recipe.

Overall the reaction from staff members was very positive. They all commented on how moist and chocolaty the brownies were. I could smell the carrots in brownies, but I've always hated the smell of carrot baby food (next to green beans it's my least favorite). And no one else seemed to notice. I think the peppermint icing helped cover the smell. I thought the brownies tasted pretty normal for the most part, very chocolaty, but with a hint of ...something... different. But if I hadn't known what was in it, I probably wouldn't have thought anything of it. Karrie was the only one who was critical of them, and she said she thought they were too chocolaty! As if there is such a thing!

Nibble While You Knit

I noticed something strange tonight while I was knitting: it made me hungry! Not that I was knitting so fast and furiously that I was just burning up the calories (oh, if that were possible!), but I realized tonight that I frequently snack on something at some point while I'm knitting. Usually it's something small and light like cereal or Cheez-Its, but often I stop in the middle of my project to get a bigger snack, like ice cream. I don't know when or how this started, but I defi-knit-ly need to nip this problem in the bud.

I managed to go for twenty minutes on my elliptical machine at home tonight. I am five weeks and nine pounds away from my goal (according to my scale tonight). So I need to step it up. I've been really slacking on cardio lately, so I need to get back to my original goal of thirty minutes every day. Mom, if I don't get up and do at least twenty minutes on the elliptical machine tomorrow before I drive to Schuyler, I will pay you $10.