Mish Mash

Good morning! I had another weird night of sleep last night but woke up feeling a million times better. I hope everyone else is fighting off their flus... don't forget to get your shots if you haven't already!

Before I went to the gym, I had a Kashi trail mix bar.


I had a pretty good workout today, although after 20 minutes on the bike I was tempted to stop. I just put down my book, put my headphones (I am sorely in need of a new pair... the left earbud doesn't work and the wires are exposed...) on and powered through 15 more minutes.

Bike
36:00 minutes
6.64 miles
306 calories burned

Machines
pulldown- 3 x 10 @ 30 lbs
chest press- 3 x 10 @ 10 lbs
shoulder press- 3 x 10 @ 10 lbs
row/rear deltoid- 1 x 10 @ 10 lbs, 2 x 10 @ 15 lbs

usual ab series, + 2 30 second plank holds (I think I'm going to stat adding these to my daily routine)

I'm going to my prof's house today for brunch, so I only made half a smoothie today.

2.5 scoops Greek yogurt
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 clementine
handful frozen cranberries

This strange combination (I don't really have any fruit in the house) was surprisingly tasty. I guess citrus/cranberry go together a lot, I just never thought to put them into a smoothie.

Someone else is bringing potatoes to the pot-luck, so rather than have a starch overload I decided to bake muffins and bring salad fixings.

Women's Health had an article few months back about muffins that do your body good (instead of confirming the old story that "Krispy Kreme donuts have less fat than a blueberry muffin). I made the good-for-your heart Apple-Cinnamon Oat Bran muffin, with a few adaptations. Here's my version of the recipe:

Apple-Cinnamon Oat Bran Muffins

1/2 cup oat bran (Bob's Red Mill)
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (Bob's Red Mill
1/4 cup ground flax seed (Bob's Red Mill)
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger powder
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 egg, beaten
4 tbsp canola oil
1/3 cup applesauce
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl, whisk together bran, flour, flax seed, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.

In a separate bowl, whisk together egg and oil until smooth. Stir in applesauce and sugar. Combine mixtures and fold in pecans.

Spoon batter into paper-lined muffin tin. Bake for about 20 muffins, or until muffin tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool and enjoy!




As you can see, these aren't exactly fluffy muffins. On the Women's Health website, a lot of the testers said that their muffins didn't puff up. Hopefully they'll still taste good... I'll tell you how they are after the brunch.

Have a great day, and Happy Monday!