flashback friday: they’re coming out.

we made it! it’s the weekend! woooooo. can you tell i am excited?!

mainly because marshall is home from his week-long work trip. he got home super late last night and i am just dying to hang out with him.. hairy face and all. (although i secretly hope he decided to take a razor to that sweet face of his while i was at work today. only time will tell.)

hope you all enjoyed danica’s guest post! i know i, for one, cannot wait to make those meatballs! i am going to whip up a batch on monday or tuesday and use them for all sorts of things. i have ideas, people. it’s gonna be awesome. spicy and awesome.

yesterday (thursday) i didn’t take photos of 4 of my 5 meals. and it was great. the funny thing is i still care about presentation even when i know there is not going to be a photo.. what can i say? i like to eat food that is served in an aesthetically pleasing manner.

i said four out of five meals. i did photograph one of my meals yesterday.. dinner.

POM wonderful contacted me and asked if i would be willing to try their 100% pomegranate juice and review it on the blog.

i love me some pomegranate, so naturally i said, “you bet!”

if you have been reading my blog for a long time, you know i don’t prefer to drink my calories. so, instead of swigging down a bottle of delicious 100% POM wonderful pomegranate juice, i decided to do what i do best… make up a recipe! well.. i guess me saying that is what i do best it is debatable. personally, i think i am best at sleeping in or procrastinating. but for now, let’s say i am real good at making up recipes, deal? deal.

thyme, almond & flax crusted chicken with a pomegranate reduction glaze!

toot, toot. there goes my horn. this was delectable.

serves two. (or one lonely janetha b. with leftovers for the next day.)

ingredients:

for the chicken:

• 2 boneless, skinless organic chicken breasts, butterflied in half
• 1/4 cup whole almonds
• 2-3 TB fresh thyme
• 1/8 cup flax seed or ground flax
• 1/4 cup egg whites

for the glaze:

• 8 oz POM wonderful 100% pomegranate juice
• 1/2 an onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt and pepper, to taste
• cornstarch and water, as needed to thicken
• pomegranate arils, for garnish

step-by-step time!

-preheat oven to 435 degrees [f]

-place a medium skillet over medium/high heat, spray with cooking spray or pour a little olive oil on there.

-dice your onion and mince your garlic.

-add the onion, garlic, salt and pepper to the skillet.

-stir frequently.

-meanwhile, make the coating for your chicken! put the almonds, thyme and flax in the handy mini food processor that you won from averie.

-pulse.

-it will look awesome:

 

-once the onions are cooked, pour in your juice. stir frequently.

-coat chicken in egg whites and then in almond mixture.

-place chicken on foil-lined pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray (this is my trick to not having to wash the pan when i’m done with it. you can skip the foil part, but then you’ll have an extra dish to wash!)

-don’t forget to stir your sauce!

-pop your chicken in the oven and bake (uncovered) for.. oh.. about 20 minutes or so. maybe less, actually. check it after 15 minutes, just to be safe.

-while the chicken is baking, you should mix your cornstarch+water and pour it into the POM sauce. stir, stir, stir.

-now this process is weird. it will get really thick, but then you want to thin it out again with a little water. so let it thicken.. then thin it out again with water and bring it to a boil. then immediately remove it from the heat and it will become the perfect glazey consistency. i promise.

-when you chicken is cooked through, pull it out of the oven.

-serve two pieces of chicken (which is actually just one breast, split down the middle) with half of the glaze. top with pomegranate arils for garnish!

voila!

i served mine with a side of mashed cauliflower, which, if you close your eyes and don’t think about it, tastes just like mashed potatoes!

for the cauliflower, i simply steamed a head of cauliflower and mashed it with a bit of almond milk, salt and pepper~ using my potato masher. super simple! and super low carb.

 

if there was one thing i ate yesterday that i had to take a photo of, this dinner was it. it hit the spot!

so flavorful. thank you, POM wonderful!

(turns out penny & randy LOVE pom arils!)

 

i had a great lower body workout yesterday. here are the details!

• 5 minute treadmill warmup / .6 miles

quads/abs (body for life sets)

move	reps	weight
leg extension machine	12 @ 10 @ 8 @ 6 @ 12 @	50# 60# 70# 80# 60#
bulgarian split squats w/ dumbbells	12 @	20# each hand

*i did 30 standing side crunches between the first 4 sets (15 each side with 25# plate) for a total of 120 reps.

hamstrings/abs (body for life sets)

move	reps	weight
single leg dumbbell deadlift	12 @ 10 @ 8 @ 6 @ 12 @	10# each hand 12# each hand 17.5# each hand 20# each hand 15# each hand
stability ball hamstring curls	12 @	body weight

*i did 50 crunches on the decline bench between the first four sets for a total of 200 reps.

glutes/abs (circuit sets)

move	reps	weight	sets
bridge w/ feet on bench	30 (10 both legs, 10 left leg, 10 right leg, all consecutive)	bodyweight	3
donkey kicks w/ twist	30 (15 each leg, consecutive)	bodyweight	3
reverse crunch on bench	15	bodyweight	3

inner/outer thighs (supersets)

move	reps	weight	sets
inner thigh machine	15	90#	3
outer thigh machine	15	110#	3

calves/quads (body for life sets)

move	reps	weight
single leg laying calf raise (on leg press)	12 each leg @ 10 each leg @ 8 each leg @ 6 each leg @ 12 each leg @	100# 120# 140# 160# 100#
standing single leg calf raise	12 each leg @	body weight

*i did single leg presses (for my quads) between the first 4 sets, with the same weight/reps as the calf sets for a total of 4 sets.

yes. i have DOMS today.

FRIDAY!

this morning i woke up and completed my wake up call challenge before heading out the door to physical therapy.

since i was on the go and had no time for breakfast, i grabbed some stuff to eat in my car. no, not ideal.. but it worked.

i had a fuji on the way to PT:

and then i took some photos for you guys to see how i spend my mornings, twice a week.

they lay me down on a doctor’s office bed with not one but TWO pillows. luxurious.

hi!

 

and then they put heat on my ankles for 15 minutes. i read blogs on my phone.

 

then the gal comes in and does the ultrasound for about 5 minutes on the injured area. no photo.

then the doctor comes in and massages the injured area for about 10 minutes. this is painful, but in a good way. it is my favorite part of the appointment. no photo.

finally my treatment is finished of with medicine that is sent through my pores with some electric thingamajig. no clue how it works!

but i am getting better so today only my right ankle needed the medicine :)

after my appointment i stopped at starbucks and snagged a grande black americano~

 

and i also ate this coffee cocoa simply bar while driving to work.

random breakfast, but it worked!

lunch was a little more structured. it was my final portion of the garbanzo bean turkey bake that i made earlier this week. so sad to see it go! i will have to make more soon.

i garnished the dish with some ketchup & greek yogurt.

and served it with a side of mini bell peppers & snap peas.

great lunch!

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flashback friday!

if you are a long-time reader, you know what i was doing a year ago today. i was recovering from the second most painful surgery ever. (the first was when i broke my humerus.)

yep. i got my tonsils out on may 5, 2009.

a clean shaven marshall took me to to hospital.

a little history. i used to ALWAYS get sinus infections or bronchitis… and we are talking, 7 or 8 times per winter. i was always sick. my bosses always made fun of me because i was constantly sick. but i wasn’t faking! there was something seriously wrong with me. i was healthy in my diet and exercise, yet i was always getting super, duper sick.

well, they wanted to yank out my tonsils. so i let them.

and it was miserable.

i remember waking up from the operation and feeling like i had razors in my throat. every time i swallowed, i wanted to cry. and i usually did.

they gave me lidocaine suckers to help numb my throat:

luckily, i was in good hands. my mom took SUCH good care of me! i was staying at her house. me and penny bean.

my sweet, sweet marshall brought me flowers the day i had the tonsils taken out.

and what’s even better (and why i am marrying him, essentially) is he brought me nielsen’s frozen custard.. aka the BEST frozen treat on the planet. better than ice cream, better than fro yo. mark my words.

i was a swollen wreck, but i was happy about the custard. can you tell?

flowers, frozen custard and my pup. i was in good hands, for sure.

the bad part was i couldn’t eat! i had just started my blog and now the only thing i could feature was popsicles, protein shakes and applesauce. for like.. two or three WEEKS. i was always so hungry!!

i would cook food for my family.. and they would eat it.. and i couldn’t.. and i was so hungry! man, it was the pits.

but let’s look at the bright side! because that’s what i do :)

being on a liquid diet made me try my first green moster ever!

 

and i got to eat a lot (AND I MEAN A LOT) of ice cream!

 

(ice cream with apple sauce and cinnamon. SO good)

and i was always doped up on liquid lortab. (yes, that is a bright side.)

YAPPLESAUCE was born! greek yogurt+applesauce+cinnamon~ susan though up the term :)

 

and i had over a week off of work and hung out with these fine fellas:

and ate a lot of popsicles.

the dogs helped.

i hated not being able to exercise, but i did manage to take penny on a few walks.

and eventually.. i was able to eat real food.. (about 2 weeks later)

i was in pain for about 5 weeks after the surgery.

BUT~ guess what? I DID NOT GET SICK ONE SINGLE TIME THIS PAST WINTER! i did get sick in the summer (unrelated to my sinus/bronchial issues) but other than that.. nope. nothing. i have been healthy as a horse. (well, healthy as a real healthy horse.. i am sure there are some sick horses out there!)

so, all those weeks i yelled “THIS IS NOT EVEN WORTH IT! KILL ME NOW I WANT TO SWALLOW PAIN FREE AND EAT LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!”.. well.. i was wrong.

and it was worth it.

the end.

flashback friday around blog land!:

• lisa @ i’m an okie
• tina @ a tina bit of faith, fitness & fun
• i bet susan will do something
• and tay probably will too
• maybe monica will also

did you do a flashback friday post? let me know so i can link back!

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weekend agenda:

• graduation dinner for one of my bestie’s tonight! congratulations, j5!
• photo shoot in the AM (you will hear more about this later, promise)
• register for the wedding!
• check out how the house renovations are going! i haven’t been there in over a week! (i hired my brother to do the work)
• watch the jazz game tomorrow night (go jazz!)
• mother’s day dinner on sunday :)
• somewhere in there i will do some HIIT and an upper body workout

hope you all have some fun plans yourselves!

Qs~

1. what surgeries have you had? in addition to my tonsillectomy, i’ve had the titanium rod put into my arm when i broke my humerus and i had my wisdom teeth taken out when i was 15.

2. any fun mother’s day plans? i am just excited to spend time with my BEST friend, momma b!

xo. janetha b.