Looking Forward To Summer

Summer is almost here! Only two more weeks of regular classes and then finals. I'm pretty stressed out because there are so many things due, but I'm hoping to use this blog a little more to express some of my own interests (not school, not people in my life, not work). I love to cook, bake, workout, eat great food, drink fabulous wine, and Netflix is the best invention since sliced bread. Well, that and Haribo Gummy products. :)

Homeade Granola Bars!

I have recently been making homeade granola bars for breakfast in the morning and snacks during my day. They are soooo good, high in fiber so they keep you full through the morning, and have a lot of great nutrients. Try them for yourself!

HOMEADE GRANOLA BARS

2 cups old fashioned oats

1 cup of sliced almonds

1 cup of coconut

3 tbsp. butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup wheat germ

2 cups of your favorite dried fruit

Directions:

Heat the oven to 325. Butter a baking pan and then line with parchment paper and then set aside.

On a baking sheet, toast the oast, coconut and almonds for about 10 minutes or until just golden, mixing occationally during baking time. Remove from oven, set aside, and turn the oven up to 350 degrees.

In a small pot, combine the butter, brown sugar, honey, vanilla extract, and salt. Bring to a boil for one minute over medium heat, stiring occationally.

On a cutting board, cut your dried fruit into small pieces. This will help the granola from falling apart after baking.

Pour the toasted almonds, oats, and coconut into a large mixing bowl and add the wheat germ. Pour the honey mixture on top of the toasted oat mixture and stir well. Add the dried fruit.

Empty the mixture onto the parchment-lined baking pan and place into the oven. Cook for 20-30 minutes depending on desired firmness of granola (I like mine to be a little softer so that I can put it over yogurt and such. If you leave it in for the full 30 min, it will be very brown when you take it out versus a light golden color).

Take out of oven and allow to cool for a couple of hours. The next morning, the granola will be at it peak firmess. Cut into large pieces and put into plastic sandwish bags to preserve freshness.

ENJOY!

Jillian Michaels DVD!

I looooove the new Jillian Michael's DVD, "No More Trouble Zones"! I have been using the workout to get some calorie burning when I don't have time or just don't want to go to the gym. I can do the workout in the comfort of my own living room and it only takes about 50 min. She works in every part of the body: biceps, triceps, abs (these exercises are my favorite!), quads, hamstrings, chest, and cardio. She does what she is best at, circuit training, however in this video it seems a lot more fast-paced to me then the 30-day shred videos were. There is a 5-minute warm up, followed by six 5-minute circuits that focus on different parts of the body. Each circuit consists of five 30-second moves that are repeated twice. What I like the most about this workout is that she incorporates upper- and lower-body exercises for almost all of her moves. That way, you're keeping your heart rate up (cardio/fat-burn) and working twice the amount of muscles in half the time. Do this video a couple times a week and you're sure to have a rockin' body in just a couple of months!

Cardio in the Morning

Leo and I went to go get some advice from a trainer at our gym. He told us that the absolute best thing we can do for our workout is to try doing some cardio in the morning. So, I've been trying it for the past couple of days and it's been working out really well. The only problem is that it's REALLY hot outside, even at 7:00 in the morning. So, today, I tried to do some indoor cardio for my 30 min. It is a little harder to keep your heart rate up when you're confined to such a small space, but I tried several things. Like:

Jumping Jacks (2 minnutes)

Jump Rope (2 Miuntes)

Marching in place (2 minutes)

... and then repeating all of this over again. I am ultimately trying to go for the general body of a volleyball player. I really think that those women have the ULTIMATE physique for an athlete... nice big, muscular legs and butt, a tiny waiste, and a pretty small upper-body. Plus, unlike most sports, there doesn't seem to be a huge shrinkage to their chest! Whoo-hoo! Save the ta-tas!

Sweedish Pancakes!

Leo got ambitious this morning with breakfast and decided to make Sweedish pancakes! He got the recipe out of a magazine but added powdered sugar and blueberries to make it his own. Here is the recipe:

8 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1 Cup all-purpose flour

1 3/4 Cups whole milk

3 large eggs

1/2 Teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 Teaspoon salt

Confectioner's sugar and blueberries

1. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a 10-inch nonstick skillet. Combine the flour, milk, eggs, melted butter, vanilla, and salt in a blender; process until smooth.

2. Warm the skillet over medium heat until a drop of water bounces and sizzles. Ass 1 teaspoon butter, turn to coat the pan with the melted butter. Pour 1/3 cup of batter and quickly swirl the pan to eavenly coat the bottom. Turn the pancake after about 90 seconds.

3. Transfer the pancakes to a plate, lightly coat with confectioner's sugar and top with blueberries. Serve Immediately.

Working out AND dieting

During the past 8 weeks, I have been working out about 4 days a week. Here is what my schedule usually looks like:

Tuesday: Back, Biceps, Abs, and Cardio broken down like this:

Cardio (5 min @ 6.5 incline)

Back Rows (machine)

3 x 12 reps @ 40 lbs

Back Flys (machine)

3 x 12 reps @ 20 lbs

Lower Back Row (machine)

3 x 12 reps @ 60 lbs

Bicep Curls (Single and double hand - machine)

Each arm - 3 x 5 reps @ 20 lbs

Both arms together - 3 x 10 reps @ 30 lbs

Bicep curls, dumbell perpendicular to ground

3 x 15 reps @ 5 lbs

Bicep curls, dumbell parallel to ground, palms down

3 x 15 reps @ 5 lbs

Abs

Ab curl machine

3 x 30 reps @ 50 lbs

Oblique standing curl (each side)

3 x 15 reps @ 10 lbs

Cardio

30 minutes @ 6.5 incline (or keeping heart rate between 135-145)

I feel like maybe I'm doing too much? I don't want to bulk up! But I also feel like I need to start watching what I eat. Overall in 8 weeks, I've lost 8lbs which isn't bad but I feel like if I cut down on the salt and sugar I am consuming, I would see much faster results. Feedback, please!

Updates

So, I totally forgot about this thing until recently when my twin sister started her own blog. I've been working for my dad for the summer and working out a lot at the gym to get in shape for the summer. I have a feeling that summer will be over before I actually get into the shape I want but my real goal is the CRUISE I will be going on in December!

I'll try to keep this thing a LITTLE more updated!