Friday! Yay Friday! This has been a very busy week around here. I am glad to get to the weekend. I got up in below zero weather – can this end any time soon, please?!!?
The gym was busy this morning with a lot of grunters. Super amount of testosterone today concomitantly with hearing songs like “Panama” and “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.” Gotta love those days. 🙄 That is when it still feels a little awkward to be the only woman in the free weights area.
| Exercise | Set/rep/weight | Muscle worked |
| Stationary Lunge | 3 sets of 10 each leg holding 35# plate | Lower Body |
| Dumbbell Pull Over | 3 sets of 10 with 25 DB# | Back |
| Dumbell Incline Fly | 3 sets of 10 with 12# DBs (24# total) | Chest |
| Captain’s Chair | 3 sets of 10 | Core |
| Calf Raise | 3 sets of 10 at 170# | Calves |
| Good Mornings | 3 sets of 10 with 55# bar | Low Back and hammies |
| Lateral Raise | 3 sets of 10 with 8# DBs (16# total) | Shoulders |
Just a nice quick workout today. I forgot to drink my protein before I left the house, so I was pretty hungry and ready to eat!
Pumpkin oats topped with 10 g of cranberries, a drizzle of honey and coconut butter. Yum, yum, yum!
Got to work this morning first off, which was nice and was able to get a lot out of the way. I was hungry a little early and snacked on a few of these:
Then I made some lunch. This was some shrimp sauteed in some BBQ sauce on a toasted magic roll. And how about that side of sauteed spinach? You don’t see that very often on the blog.
I am not sold on the spinach. I wanted it crispy for some reason. Guess I could deep fry the leaves? 😯
Thanks for your thoughts on yesterday’s running thoughts. Total irony after I write that post and then today I get a brochure for a new race coming up in April 
I am just not sure what I will do. What I have found, though, is that my knee has been feeling pretty good this week and I have not run at all. Maybe that says enough, eh? I’ve still got my lifting and my biking!
My happy time today:
Here are a bunch of soap logs for the custom order I am working on. I am about 3/4 of the way finished with it. I need to get this done and think about production again.
So tonight’s dinner includes a new item that arrived yesterday – coconut flour! I thought I would dive in with a crust. This would be gluten free, btw. I used the recipe from Tropical Traditions
Ingredients (short list always a plus!):
- 8 oz part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded(2 cups)
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons flax meal (13 grams)
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour (14 grams)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (foil might work as well if you spray it with nonstick spray)
In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together. You will have to mash a bit to combine everything.
Then spread onto the parchment paper into whatever shape you want at about 1/4 inch thick. I chose kind of a rectangle.
Bake for 15 minutes, remove from oven and flip over. I needed to use 2 spatulas to do this.
Bake for another 15 minutes.
Check it out! I flipped it back over again because it was prettier.
At this point, you can add whatever cooked toppings you want and put back in the oven to heat up if you want to have a pizza with it.
We had cooked ground pork and Pizza Quick sauce (yes, that stuff). I used up all of the cheese in the crust, so none available for the top! Note to self, get more cheese. So this was more like an open faced sloppy joe.
This was kind of a cross between a cheesy breadstick and foccacia. I liked it.
Like that nibble I took out of the corner??
Calories for 1/4 of the crust only (my size piece shown): 225 and 6 grams of carbs. Maybe more than regular pizza, but then again, this was a big piece. Quite tasty and not doughy or heavy feeling. I think it would make good sandwich bread.
I am so glad it is Friday. We have a busy weekend on tap. Renovations and hosting a Mardi Gras dinner on Sunday. Laissez le bon temps roulez!
Question: Are you a spinach fan?
I looooove spinach! And deep-fried…I’d be SO in 🙂
Your crust sounds really cool. Curious, did it have a coconut flavor at all? I’m new to the coconut scene. So far I’ve tried sauteeing with coconut oil, but haven’t tried the butter or flour.
There was no coconut flavor or smell. You don’t use much coconut flour because it absorbed tons of liquid. Even the straight up flour only has a slight coconut odor. Definitely different than just grinding up dried coconut. I think it is partially defatted.
I’m seeing protein waffles with coconut flour instead of peanut flour!
I used to HATE spinach as a kid. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I grew to like it. I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite but I can eat it now.
I hear you on the weather. I am so sick of Oregon’s rain!
I love spinach, and I mostly use it as salad leaves, but sometimes in pasta bakes or vegetarian parcels 🙂
That crust looks like the sort of thing Arth would inhale three slices of and then ask for more. Anything with cheese is right up his tree.
That crust looks GOOD! Kinda pricy though… I actually ate part of a frozen TJ pizza yesterday. The crust was TERRIBLE. Made the cauliflower crust look great!
I always liked spinach as a kid. then I didn’t eat it for years. Now I eat it in salad and green smoothies, but I’ve been enjoying it cooked this week. I think it has a neutral flavor so it goes good with a lot of stuff.
I thought of you when we made this, Debby! I wonder how it compares taste wise to the cauliflower one.
No spinach for me, it weirds me out. I feel like I’m eating tree leaves! I don’t mind a piece here or here in a salad, but I couldn’t do what you did there.
Your soaps look divine! I’m a big homemade soap person, I always end up with way too much after LARAC weekend, there’s always so many soap vendors!
I love spinach…I may even be related to Popeye.
That crust looks fabulous. This is something I must try. Thanks for the trial run and the review.
Have a great weekend…party sounds like great fun…can’t wait for food pics.
I’m not a big spinach fan. In a green smoothie, it’s fine (since it disappears), and I like a few leaves on a sandwich or in a salad, but as a side dish? No.
Not a huge spinach fan but i will eat it. Sometimes i use it instead of lettuce on sandwiches and i will add it to a salad. I guess i like it better raw than cooked.
Running? I decided to enjoy it instead of beat myself up with it and we have a much better relationship. 🙂 I run when i’m feeling it and fast walk the rest. It breaks up the exercise nicely. Soon i’ll be adding biking to the mix. I just make sure to move my fanny three times a week!
I’m a BIG spinach fan. We always have a “clamshell” of it in the fridge. The crust looks sooo interesting. Thanks for sharing ALL the amazing recipes you do! Have a great day Lori. Stay warm!!
Ah, you food pics! YUM! I will think of you to cook/bake for me if I am ever rich! 😉
I am often the only lady in the weight room too & even when I was younger, when I first started.. I don’t mind & sometimes I show them up! 🙂 Lots of times now, I have the young guys pulling up the sleeves of their tshirts & checking out their arms when they are around me… I can see their mind thinking, she is old & has those arms so what can I do to get there too! Love it!
Have a wonderful time at your dinner!
That looks very good Lori.
I eat spinach but prefer it fresh and stir fried while the hub likes the frozen kind which I don’t like.
I love your lunch too, it looks jummie!
I like spinach IN things. Like dip or casseroles or lasagna. I also like spinach salad well enough. But something about just cooked spinach is gritty or strangely textured IMO.
spinach is the best! i can pair it with anything! hope you are enjoying your weekend!
wow
I seriously have nothing except Please come here and join me in the kitchen.
I do love me some spinach and would ADORE THAT CRUST!!
Yum- looks good! I like spinach- I especially like it in my green smoothies when I can’t taste it. 😉 But I did have this good spinach salad at Applebee’s this week- YUM!
Sometimes I enjoy being the only female in the free weights, I feel powerful! LOL! Yes I agree that your knee might be telling you something and that is coming from someone that has tried so man times to run on a bad knee when I thought all was well with it. I miss running! I try to stick with the Arc Trainer and Stairmaster (both great cardio) Someone recommended I check out a book called Chi Running which might help you as well. Let me know if you do. 🙂