Baking and Basketball-BOOM!!!

Jeff and I at the "Art of the Brick" exhibit at the Pacific Science Center. Found this piece that looked oddly familiar.

 I've traded in my nurse's cap for a toque (that's the fancy name for a chef's hat) this month! NO, I didn't get a new job. My brother is all healed up from his heart surgery, he's moved to a new location and feeling better than ever (just in time for his 45th birthday today!). Since I've been released from my temporary position as "Neophyte Nurse" I've been experimenting more in the kitchen, baking up goodies with healthy alternatives to all things high-carb. And let me tell you, a lot of the recipes I've been trying out in the test kitchen have been pretty darned tasty! Check out my beautiful baked goods:

Check out my Pinterest Board for these and other great recipes https://www.pinterest.com/missgigi70/low-carb-meal-ideas/ or use the link in my "Check This Out" titled "Low-Carb Recipe Board"

  Clockwise from top left are Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares, Coconut-Flour Cookies, Peanut Butter Cookies and Low-Carb Biscuits! And I promise you they are really tasty, low-carb and won't cause a tremendous amount of kitchen-anxiety. So the downside is that almond flour and coconut flour tend to be pretty pricey. But it is SO worth it to be able to have some guilt-free treats AND to be baking again. I do SO love to bake! The peanut butter cookies are super easy. A cup of low-sugar peanut butter, a 1/2 cup of sugar substitute (I found Splenda Brown Sugar Blend and used that instead. SO much tastier!) an egg and a little vanilla. Make little balls, smoosh them with a fork and bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. You've gotta try them! Like, right now! Seriously, I'll wait.

  The Chocolate Peanut Butter Squares had rave reviews from my distinguished panel of taste-testers (Jeff and Katie). I couldn't find the sugar-free chocolate chips, the "phony" powdered sugar or the Stevia extract, so I improvised with unsweetened baker's chocolate and Truvia sweetener. The goop seemed a little thin on the base of the squares so I added almond flour the first time I made them, which made the texture kind of weird. So the second go-around I just doubled-up on the whey protein powder.  And I really had to play around with the unsweetened chocolate to get the top part right. Maybe I should just try harder to find the right ingredients. But what fun would that be? AND when I make changes to the recipe it becomes MY OWN recipe. I could totally publish them and everything! Look at me! I'm a chef! Just like Julia Child! Well, not JUST like her. But I do make a pretty mean hollandaise sauce. Which is also no-carb!

What WAS she gonna do with that spoon????

  Moving on from all this kitchen talk...let's focus on fitness!

  I've been struggling to get my weight under control again. My thighs have developed an uncomfortably close relationship. Like teenagers in love, they can't stand to be apart. And they're starting to rub each other the wrong way. I've learned that keeping myself moving is key. As long as I don't move fast enough to start a fire with my thighs. Safety first!

Or follow me with some kindling when I jog...

  I finally hit the magical 300 miles with my Nike "Running"App (anybody else out there "running" a 19-minute mile? No? Just me?) which meant I got to buy NEW SHOES!!! And since I'm so very proud of me, I bought TWO pairs! That's called positive reinforcement. It's a thing. I read about it in one of those parenting magazines. Google it! I was so excited when my super-cool new trail-runners arrived that I wore them on a 4+ mile walk with Jeff WITHOUT breaking them in first. So it was "Blister City" (population Me) for a few days after. Lesson learned! When the cross-trainers landed a few days later I wore them to work a few times before venturing a hike. See that? I CAN learn!

The newest additions to my exercise arsenal. Boom! Pow!

  I am also trying to expand our exercise plan, shake things up beyond just walking. I get bored easily. I bought some hot pink resistance tubes that I thought might be something to play with when I watch TV. They did not come with instructions, so I've been making it up as I go using the photos on the packaging for inspiration. I may or may not be building muscle and toning my flabby parts. Time will tell. Maybe I should look up some videos on YouTube? Or I could make up some stuff and put MY OWN videos on YouTube!  "Resistance is Futile" workouts with Angela! (Get it? Because it's resistance tubes? No good? You're probably right.) How about "Totally Tubular" Fitness? I'd probably have a stupendous following of 1980's Valley Girls who never quite outgrew THAT trend. What's Moon Unit Zappa up to these days? C'mon girl, we can be bigger than Jazzercize! 

This cannot POSSIBLY be right?!?!?!?!

    We have a basketball hoop outside that seemed so lonely having not been used in quite some time. This inspired me to purchase a basketball because I hate to see anything rejected as an outcast. I have never really played basketball. I am 5'2" tall and not particularly known for my athletic prowess. Katie played basketball at the YMCA in her grade school years. Jeff absolutely HATES basketball. But he loves me, so he was willing to shoot a few hoops to keep me happy. We have played once so far. We played "Horse" (look it up if you need to) and I won!!! WooHoo! Can I remind you that Jeff is 6' tall and a MAN?  He was the "Horse" while I was merely a "Ho". Wait, that didn't come out right! He probably let me win. We haven't played again, but we will. But probably not before Jeff gets a nice new net for the hoop and scrubs the backboard clean. He has standards, ya know? And maybe I can get Katie out there, too. I'll bet I can. And I'm pretty sure she'll beat me. She's at least 2 inches taller than I am and has some skills. At least she did when she was 10. 

Me playing one-on-one with pretty much anybody.

  School's out for summer! Katie and I face the challenge of keeping active without the benefit of being forced to get up and out of the house each day. I'm open to suggestions as long as they are free and do not require any real physical dexterity. Comment below or email me at sprout624@gmail.com