Wrapping Up

Morning!!! :D Thanks for the feedback on my last post....I'll definitely have a Vlog up soon!

To me, it feels like this year has absolutely flown by.....I only have a week and a half left of school in this semester!!!! Of course, this week and next will probably be a little hectic school-wise for me, trying to get everything done, but that will only make the time go by even faster! I'm really looking forward to the holidays and spending time with my family! I don't know what all we're going to do over Christmas break, but am definitely excited about it! :D Do you have any Christmas plans yet? 

For Christmas, I want to try to make something for our friends and coworkers here. I've decided to bake a bunch of Christmas-y stuff and give little "goodie bags" to everyone. Last night I tried out a caramel corn recipe to see if it was good enough to give out.......and it is halfway gone, so I'm thinking that it was. I used this recipe and the only complaint that I have is that I felt like I didn't have enough caramel to cover all of the popcorn.......so next time I'll make a little bit more and that should solve my problem! So, when it is closer to Christmas, I'll make a batch of that, and I think some of the thin mints that I made last year. Other than that, this is my first real "holiday baking" experience, so I have absolutely no idea what to make......

What are your favorite things to bake during the Christmas holidays? 

In a completely different topic, I just want to quickly share a type of workout that I'm definitely planning on doing over the holidays. Since my entire family will actually be together most of the time, I don't want to spend too long working out every day and missing out on family stuff.  High-intensity interval training, or HIIT, is considered to be one of the most effective quick workouts. A typical HIIT workout lasts anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on  the intensity of the interval. There are also many different types of HIIT intervals, like Tabata (20 seconds all-out, 10 seconds rest), 30-sec intervals and 60-sec intervals. 

Here's some more info on HIIT: 

“HIIT is a training idea in which low to moderate intensity intervals are alternated with high intensity intervals.

HIIT can be applied to running or to exercises such as squatting. HIIT is considered to be much more effective than normal cardio because the intensity is higher and you are able to increase both your aerobic and anaerobic endurance while burning more fat than ever before.

"In research, HIIT has been shown to burn adipose tissue more effectively than low-intensity exercise - up to 50% more efficiently." It has also been shown to speed up your metabolism which helps you burn more calories throughout the day. 

HIIT will accomplish two goals: it will help accelerate fat loss and improve aerobic and anaerobic endurance. HIIT will most likely produce very fast results in a short period of time which is why it has been gaining popularity ever since it was introduced to the bodybuilding community.

Nobody can promise any specific results but it is feasible that after an 8-week cycle of HIIT combined with weight training, you and those around you will be able to notice a significant change to your body. Athletes will be able to perform better in their given sport and will outperform others toward the end of games when everyone else is getting tired. 

Scientific literature suggests that HIIT is much more effective than regular cardio for accomplishing both of the goals stated earlier. "The reason that High Intensity Interval Training works better [than normal cardio] for fat loss is this: When you do a cardio session at the same pace the whole time, your body goes into what is called steady state. This means that your body has adjusted itself to the speed you are going and tries hard to conserve energy (calories). You will be able to avoid this and burn more calories and FAT by doing the interval training." (Source: http://davedraper.com/hiit-cardio-training.html).”

source

A 20 minute workout that is as effective as a longer, steady state workout? Count me in. :D Also, if anyone out there is looking for tips on how to stay healthy over the holidays, check out Erin's new series here! 

Do you like HIIT workouts?

I've been doing the TurboFire HIIT workouts and have loved them!!! :D I also do the 30 day shred, which isn't HIIT, but another great short workout! 

Well, that's about it for today....see ya'll later! 

Baking with Chocolate

Morning everyone!!!!! Hope you all had awesome weekends! Saturday was extremely hectic around here, because we had a pre-Christmas party for some of the people that we work with in the community. I think we left our house at around 8:30 and got in at about 6 PM. It was really fun though!!! Yesterday, we actually had our Thanksgiving dinner because my dad wasn't home on Thursday. My mom, sister and I all worked together to cook up our meal. We had roast chicken (easier to find here), mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, homemade stuffing, corn, a veggie plate, and some rolls that I made. Everything was so, so good!!!! :D What did you do this weekend? 


So this morning I woke up early and felt like baking! I saw a recipe for chocolate banana muffins the other day, and decided to try those out!

Brownie-BottoM Banana Streusel Muffins

Ingredients:

Streusel:

• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter

Muffins:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 mashed ripe bananas
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup boiling water

Instructions:

Streusel:

Combine flour, sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. 

Muffins:

1. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside
2. Mash or puree the bananas and set aside. 
3. In a large bowl, combine the sugars and the oil. Add in the egg, beat until incorporated, stir in vanilla. 
4. Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, stir until incorporated. Stir in about half of the banana. Add another third of the flour mixture, stirring until fully combined. Pour in the rest of the bananas, and finally, stir in the last third of the flour mixture. 
5. Separate the batter into two bowls, with about 1/4 cup more in one than in the other, add the cinnamon to the bowl with more batter in it. 
6. In a small bowl, combine the cocoa with the boiling water and stir until it resembles melted chocolate chips. Add this to the bowl with less batter and stir until incorporated. 
7. Grease 12-14 muffin cups, pour a tablespoon of the chocolate batter into the bottom of each one. Pour a tablespoon of the cinnamon batter on top of the chocolate. Sprinkle the streusel on each muffin. Bake at 350 for about 16 minutes or until completely done. 

These were soooo yummy!!! They didn't even really need a glaze! I made 12 HUGE muffins from this, because we only have two 6-cup muffin tins anyway, so you could probably get 14 normal sized muffins out of this. My sister even said that they were here favorite chocolate-y muffins that I have ever made! They are a little bit more time consuming than your typical muffin recipe, but they're definitely worth it! :D

Before I go, I have a few questions for ya'll.

What would you like to see more of on the blog? 

Do ya'll like my recipes and workouts, or do you want to see what I do with the rest of my time? Should I do some more Vlogs? If ya'll have any questions for me about anything, leave them in the comments and I'll do a Q&A vlog or something! :D 

What is your favorite thing to bake?

Breakfast-y stuff for me! :D

See ya'll later!! 

Fun Tuesday

Hey everyone!!! Its Wednesday already! :D What have ya'll been up to this week? 


I'll wrapping up school for the semester in the next couple of weeks, so some of the teachers have given us a little more homework than usual just to make sure that we finish everything in time. That's pretty much the main thing that I have going on right now.....can't wait until its the holidays! I am going to take Thursday off though, because of Thanksgiving. I think that we're going to have just a small family Thanksgiving dinner here at home! What are your Thanksgiving plans? 


Every Tuesday in the community, we have a time where we teach the women a new craft for them to make. I haven't gone every week, but I did yesterday. I saw on Pinterest, a really fun idea to repurpose Tshirts into headbands! I made one at home on Monday night, and we took it up to teach yesterday afternoon!!! Everyone really enjoyed learning it! The tutorial is on this site, but I'm going to post it here for ya'll!!!!

First, find some old t-shirts.  Or buy some jersey knit.  Either way works.

Then, cut your fabric into long strips.  I made my strips about twice as long as the measurement around my (or my daughter’s) head.  The thick headband strips are about 2 inches wide and the narrow headband strips are about a 1/3 inch wide.  You’ll need 5 long strips for one headband.

Next, stack your 5 strips on top of each other and sew together at one end.  (Or hand stitch them or glue them.)

Now, pull on each strip of fabric so that they kind of curl on the edges.

Then lay your strips with the sewn edge up at the top (tape this down if that will help you while braiding) and then split up the strips into 3 on the left side and 2 strips on the right.

Now, to create this 5 strand braid……..you’ll kind of be braiding on the left side and then braiding on the right.  And then back and forth until you’re done.

But let me explain a little better.

First, you’ll work on the left side. So grab the strip all the way on the left (pic #1) and cross if over the strip right next to it  on the right(pic #2).  Then grab the strip furthest to the right of this section (pic #3) and cross it over one strip to the left (pic #4).  Now grab the middle of all 5 strips (pic #5) and bring it over the the right side (pic #6) so that you can start braiding on the right side.  Now you have your strips separated into 2 strips on the left and 3 strips on the right…….but opposite from the beginning.

Now, you’re going to do the same thing on the right side………just mirrored from what we did the first time.  So grab the strip all the way on the right (pic #1) and cross if over the strip right next to it  on the left (pic #2).  Then grab the strip furthest to the left of this section (pic #3) and cross it over one strip to the right (pic #4).  Now grab the middle of all 5 strips (pic #5) and bring it over the the left side (pic #6) so that you can start braiding on the left side again.

**Something to remember: When you’re working on the left side or on the right side……..you’ll always start with the strip on the outside.  So if you’re working on the left side……grab the strip all the way on the outside on the left.  If you’re working on braiding on the right side…….start with the strip all the way on the outside on the right.

So, start again from the very beginning and work on the left side again (pics #1-5) and then on the right side again (pics #6-10).

You’ll need to adjust the tightness as you go and may have to tighten individual strips here or there.

Keep on braiding and braiding……keeping the tension about the same all the way down.

When you get to the end (or as long as you need it)……..sew (or hand-stitch or glue) the ends in place.

Then overlap the ends together and sew (or glue) in place. 

**Before attaching, remember that knit will stretch and the woven design allows for stretch.  So you want to make this headband smaller than your head so that it hugs your head and stays in place.

To finish it off (and cover up the ends), cut a rectangular piece of fabric that’s wider than the ends that you’ll need to cover.  Fold the side edges in…….

And then stitch (or glue) one end on the inside of the headband.

Then wrap this piece of fabric around the headband, tuck the ends up……

And then stitch (or glue) this end down too.

And that’s it.

So the ladies loooved this! They were all talking about what old shirts they had at home to use! :D 

Well, tonight, I'm going to group bible study with some friends. I went a few weeks ago, but ever since then have had stuff to do on Wednesdays, so I'm really happy that I get to go tonight. :D

Do you like repurposing old stuff? 
What are you up to this week?


See ya'll later! 

Awesome Weekend and Oatmeal Cream Pies

Hey everyone!!!! How was your weekend??? Ours was great!!! It felt like it went by a little bit too fast, though and no one was really happy about today being Monday...:P

Saturday we went up into the community for the ladies' afternoon. It was so much fun!!! There was a devotional time in the beginning, and then we took a picture of each of the ladies and let them make their own "picture frames" so that they could have a nice picture at home. Then we came home and pretty much just hung out.

Yesterday was my dad's birthday!!!! We started out the day with egg and cheese sandwiches and blueberry muffins (his favorites), and really just spent the rest of the day around the house, which is what he wanted to do.
To surprise him, my sister and I made him some homemade oatmeal cream pies, from this recipe. They were soooo yummy!!!!! Whenever we're in the States, Dad always gets cream pies, so when we saw this recipe, we immediately thought of him! :D I'll type out the recipe here for ya'll!!!

Oatmeal Cream Pies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 T honey
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups oatmeal (quick)

Directions:

1. Cream together butter, brown sugar and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla and honey and beat until everything is incorporated. 
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Slowly add flour mixture to the wet ingredients until everything is combined. Stir in the oats and mix until they are evenly distributed. Place batter in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. 
3. Take chilled dough and drop by tablespoon onto baking sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350. The cookies might look a little undercooked or moist in the middle, but they will set. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack and let cool completely. To make the cream pies, spread some filling on half of the cookies and sandwich them with the plain cookies.

Marshmallow Creme Filling

Ingredients:

• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. In a double boiler, combine egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar. Heat until the egg whites are frothy and the sugar is completely dissolved (about 160 degrees). 
2. Transfer egg white mixture to the small bowl of a mixer, and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold in the vanilla extract. 

This did make a little more marshmallow creme than we needed, but we just put the leftover in the fridge to use with other things!!! :D 

What did you do this weekend?

Well, I should probably start on school...see ya'll later! :D 

Crazy Busy

Hey!!!! Soo sorry for the complete lack of updates this week.....I've been spending a lot of time studying....the end of the semester is coming up in a few weeks!!! There really hasn't been too much going on besides school here....how has your week been? 


So the other day, it was sort of rainy around lunchtime and I was looking for something different to eat. I pretty much always have a stash of bean burgers in my freezer, so I took out a black bean one and completely thawed it out in a small pot. Then, I added some tomato sauce, chopped veggies, some water and some random seasonings and had single serve black bean soup!!! It was pretty tasty! I think I had about 1/3 cup of beans, a few tablespoons of tomato sauce and I have no idea about the measurements on the rest of the ingredients. I basically just threw stuff in the pot until it looked "right". I did let it cool off for a little while and blended part of the soup so that it would be both smoother and thicker. Anyway, I can definitely see that becoming a part of my regular lunch rotation!

Since I am no longer have a gym membership, I've been getting creative with my at-home workouts. A couple of days ago, I did one that I saw on Pinterest, which is pretty much an awesome website! :D Most of you have probably already seen it, but here it is just in case:

Wow! This was pretty tough!!!! Instead of the run, I just did 10 minutes of random cardio stuff here at home....the whole thing took about 20 minutes but I definitely felt it! Has anyone else tried this workout? If so, what did you think? Also, what other workouts are there that I can do at home????

Well, this weekend, we're having another day for the ladies of the community!!!! One of my sister's friends will be going as well. Besides that, I don't think that we have much planned, and Sunday is my dad's birthday! What does your weekend look like? 

That's about it for today....

See ya'll later! :D

Brazilian Summertime!

Morning!!! :D Hope everyone had a great weekend! I definitely did!!!! We pretty much just hung out and watched past seasons of random TV shows, but it was fun! What did you do? 


So, even though it is getting colder stateside, summertime is just beginning here!!!!! And believe me, when you're only 9 degrees south of the equator, summer is hot. Anyway, because of this, I've been looking for some quick, no-bake snacks that I can also stick in the freezer to cool off! Some of them are not really recipes, like frozen bananas w/ pb or frozen yogurt. I have also been whipping up some random snacks to stick in the freezer. I've been making peanut butter protein bites by mixing a 1:1 ratio of my protein powder and peanut butter, like Lisa suggested the other day. I also made some mocha ice pops yesterday using this recipe. Finally, I slightly adapted Katie's oatmeal raisin larabar recipe from yesterday to make my own "mini larabars". I'm going to share that recipe with ya'll now!

Oatmeal Raisin "Larabar" Bites

Ingredients:

• 80g raisins (about 1/2 cup)
• 6 T oatmeal
• 40g roasted peanuts (mine were salted, so I didn't use any additional salt in the recipe)
• splash of vanilla extract
• dash of cinnamon

Directions:

1. Place oatmeal in a food processor and process them until they are very finely shredded. 
2. Add in all of the other ingredients and process until comepletely combined. 
3. Take Larabar "dough" out of the food processor and shape into either 10-12 bite size pieces or 3 regular sized bars. 

I was sooo excited when I saw this recipe, because pretty much every other larabar-type recipe that I've seen calls for dates, which are really hard to find and really expensive here, for some reason. Another thing that's hard to find? Walnuts, which are called for in the original recipe. I was going to use cashews, but the grocery store didn't have any yesterday, so I rolled with peanuts. These are really yummy and I am definitely going to make them again! I usually just stick them in the freezer and take them out whenever I want a sweet treat! What are your favorite summertime snacks? 

I do have some sad news (for me). My gym contract has ended (can you believe that it has been six months already), so I made sure to get in an awesome workout yesterday! I did a circuit that contained both strength and cardio intervals, and really, really enjoyed it!!!!! 

Well, that's about it for today! :D See ya'll later! 

Accent Vlog!

Heeey everyone!!!! Hope you are all having great weekends so far!!!! We're pretty much just chillin' out here at home, which is really nice!!! :D 

So yesterday, I saw on Emily's blog that she did an accent vlog, and I thought it was pretty neat! So the idea is, I'm supposed to first read off a list of words, and then answer a few questions so that ya'll can hear what I sound like. So, before I show you the video, I'm going to copy over the words I'll be saying and the questions that I'll be answering.

Words:

Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught


Questions:
What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
What do you call gym shoes?
What do you say to address a group of people?
What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
What do you call your grandparents?
What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
What is the thing you use to change the TV channel?

Soo what do ya'll think???? Do I sound different than you expected or not? Has anyone else done one of these vlogs?

What do you have going on this weekend?

Patience is a Virtue...

that I don't seem to possess a lot of. :P

This has been proven waaay too many times, especially since I have really started cooking. I'm that annoying person who hovers over a pot of water, waiting for it to boil so that I can make some pasta, or who pretty much always, when given a range of baking times, sets the timer at the shortest because if I'm making muffins or scones or something chocolate, I really just want it right NOW! hahaha My most recent example of this was when I randomly decided to make marshmallows a couple of days ago. I followed this recipe, which is really very simple to put together. I made a half batch. What I didn't realize was just how long it takes for marshmallows to set.....mine took about 4 hours and they were still sticky. Of course, that might have just been something that I did wrong, but anyway, it was pretty  much torture to wait around for them! But, I am glad that I did! :D

 (source)

These are actually much cuter than my marshmallows, but as I have yet to actually find batteries for my camera, this is what I'm going to show you! :D

On a more serious note, our friend Paul is leaving tomorrow. He's been here just over two years, and everyone will miss him a lot! During the time that he's been here, he has led a soccer project for boys living in the community. Last night, he threw a party for everyone, because it was his last time up there. Everyone had fun playing games and such, but we were all sad as well. It is sort of weird when someone that you have seen practically every day for the past two years is leaving.....please pray for him, that he has a safe trip tomorrow!

Before I go, I do have a question for all of you! :D We have a couple of jars of pb that are about to hit their expiration dates, and I've been searching for things to do with it. I really like making freezer cookies with about 2 T pb, 2/3 cup oats, some cocoa and a splash of milk, but I'd also like some other ideas for healthy snacks made w/ pb! Of course, a lot of it is being consumed straight out of the jar (possibly due to that patience thing that I was talking about), but it is nice to have some variety! :D

Oh! One more thing! Can I bake with protein powder? I have some that really tastes awful in a shake b/c it is super grainy, but I was wondering if I could use it to make some muffins or something before it goes bad as well. It is strawberry flavored, by the way. :D

Are you a patient person? 


Do you like to travel by airplane? 
I appreciate that airplanes help speed up a trip, but I really am not a fan of heights or cramped places.....so the planes themselves aren't my favorite things to be in!

A Fun Workout and a Really Fun Treat

Morning everyone!! Hope you all had wonderful weekends!!!! Ours was relaxed for the most part...which was really nice! Saturday our friend had a sort of party for the guys who area  part of our soccer project, so my parents went and my sister and I hung out here at home. Then, when everyone got back, we had some dinner and family time. Yesterday was pretty quiet too, but we did go to church. How was your weekend?


So by now, everyone probably knows that I love, love, LOVE circuit style workouts because I really tend to avoid doing strength training....I get bored after a little while. So, based on some other circuits that I saw online, I  put together my very own cardio/strength circuit that definitely prevented me from being bored at any time! :D Here it is:

The Healthy Chocoholic's first ever circuit workout:

Cardio 1:
Stationary Bike

Minutes		RPE
0-5	Warm up	5
5-7	Moderate	5-7
7-8	High intensity	7-9
8-14	Rep. 5-8 2X	5-9
14-15	Recover	5

Strength 1:
Mountain Climber on Swiss Ball (30 seconds)
Single Arm Bench Press (15)
Scaption and Shrug (12)
Reverse Dunk (10)
Front Squat Push Press (12)
Repeat 2-3 times.

Cardio 2:
Elliptical

Minutes		RPE
0-3	Moderate	5-7
3-5	High Intensity	7-9
5-10	Repeat 0-5	5-9

Strength 2:
Stationary Lunge (15 each leg)
Ski boot sit (10)
Side leg lift (10 each side)
Crunch and Lift (10)
Curtsy Lunge w/ Lift (15 each side)
Repeat 2-3 times.

Cardio 3:
Treadmill

Minutes		RPE
0-2	Light jog	5-7
2-4	Sprint	7-9
4-8	Repeat 0-4	5-9
8-10	Moderate run	5-7
10-15	Cool down	4

And there ya have it! The whole thing took me about an hour to do and I was suuuper sweaty at the end of it!

Noow, for the treat!! This is for all you chocolate coconut fans out there!! :D

Chocolate Macaroon Muffins

 source

My camera died, so I couldn't get a pic of my muffins, but they look a lot like that! 

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl. 
2. In another bowl, combine milk, egg and butter. Stir into the dry ingredients until everything is combined.
3. In a small bowl, combine the coconut, condensed milk and vanilla extract. 
4. Fill 12 greased muffin tins about 1/3 of the way full with chocolate batter. Place about 2 teaspoons of coconut mixture in each tin. Fill each tin the rest of the way so that the coconut ends up in the middle of the muffin.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are completely done. 

Easy, huh? The condensed milk definitely keeps the muffins from getting too dry. Not an every day breakfast, but a really fun treat for every once in a while!!! :D 

Well, I had better get to studying!!!! 

See ya'll later! 

What I've Been Up To

True story: Our first year here, we arrived in the middle of October. In Brazil, October and November have school holidays practically every week. We had been living in Recife a full month before we ever went to school for an entire week w/o a holiday. Yesterday was Dia dos Mortos, day of the dead, which, no one really celebrates or anything, but it is a nice excuse to close schools and stuff. That's why I didn't post yesterday, because I was hanging out with the family.

Also, a friend of ours from northern ireland, who has been working with us for the past two years, and living in our apt, is leaving next week. So, everyone from the ministry came over here and we had a little goodbye party for him! :D Everyone got here at about 4, and we had some snacks. I made chocolate cobbler, my dad made 7 layer bean dip (refried beans, salsa, sour cream, green onions, tomatoes, olives, and cheese between every layer), and we had lots of chips and dip + mini dessert. Then, we headed over to the steak restaurant across the street for dinner! Everyone had a great time!

Other than that, not too much has been going on around here....I found out (the hard way) that Brazilian summer temps can actually kill bread yeast before the package is even opened. My mom and I successfully made caramel sauce from a new recipe after our third try, so I'm going to share that recipe with you:

Creamy Caramel Sauce:


Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• pinch of cream of tartar (i actually didn't measure, maybe about 1/4 tsp?)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup heavy cream, heated until warm
• 2 T butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Combine the sugar, cream of tartar and water in a heavy saucepan (with at least 5 cup capacity b/c the caramel sort of bubbles up when you add the cream later on) until the sugar is completely moistened.  
2. Place a good candy thermometer in the pot as well, making sure that the tip is immersed in the sugar solution. 
3. Heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves completely. Stop stirring and let boil until it turns a deep golden brown (ours got to about 300 F, but our pot cooks unevenly, so your temp might be different). 
4. Remove from heat and stir the hot cream into the sugar mixture. This is when it bubbles up a lot. Keep stirring until the caramel is smooth and add the butter, stirring until completely combined.
5. Let the caramel cool for a few minutes and add the vanilla. If you want, you can also add a pinch of sea salt to the caramel. 

So this stuff tastes really, really awesome! :D It took us a couple of tries to make because we had to get used to the speed at which the caramel cooks. It can definitely go from perfectly cooked to burned before you can add the cream to it! 

On a slightly healthier (and sort of uglier) note, there's something I've been eating a lot of lately for lunch. Black eyed pea burgers! You could use pretty much any bean to make it though. All I do is take about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of beans and mash them with about 1 to 2 T of flour(depending on how soft the beans are) and cook it on our griddle on both sides until they're crisp! The best thing about the burgers is that, if I decide to use less beans, I'll add some chopped veggies or rice in, I can season each one differently, etc. So even if I eat several bean burgers a week, no two ever taste the same! Pretty, they are not, but they definitely taste delicious! 

This particular burger I seasoned with bbq dry rub and served it on a slice of whole wheat bread! 

See what I mean about them not being pretty? hahaha

Another thing I've been loving is circuit training. I personally really dislike strength training in any shape or form, so for me to be able to break up a strength workout is great for me!!!! When I'm at the gym, my schedule looks a little like this: run, arms, hills, legs, light jog, abs. That way, I can break up my strength training into smaller portions and can better motivate myself to actually do them! :D At home, I'm loooving the 30-day shred!!! For a 20 minute workout, it definitely kicks some serious butt! hahahaha

Well, that's about it for now.....

How has your week gone?

What are your go-to lunches?