two Q tuesday!

it cracks me up (and surprises me!) how many of you thought that coffee cake actually tastes like coffee!! actually, unless it is coffee flavored coffee cake, it doesn’t taste like coffee at all. it tastes like whatever flavor of coffee cake it is, and is meant to be eaten with coffee~ hence the term “coffee cake”.  now you know!

here is the link to the recipe for my apple cinnamon protein coffee cake with almonds.

i have already eaten half of the batch. better save some for tomorrow (wednesday) which is national coffee cake day!  i am pretty excited to mess around with the recipe and make different variations. i will post them as i create them.

there were some great tips left in the comments section of my last post. here are a few:

• “One thing I have done is replaced all my oil with applesauce (same ratio) when baking.” –ashlan
• “cooking tip—I always heat the pan BEFORE i put in the olive oil so when the veggies get added, you should hear a nice sizzle, this prevents the food from burning!” –naomi
• “Kitchen tips… well, my biggest tip would be read the WHOLE recipe the ENTIRE way through- then you can estimate how long everything takes, get ALL your ingrdients out at once, measure, weigh and you’re good to go. So much easier that way!!” –kristin
• “The only tip I can think of is to not be afraid of aluminum foil! I don’t know why but I used to never use it, but its such a clean up saver! I’m going to start lining saute pans with it” –bre
• “I always microwave my milk/water for oats before adding them to the pan. The oats cook so much faster when the liquid is already warm!! This is especially good for steel cut oats, which take FOREVER.” –gabriela
• “I buy jarred minced garlic. Seriously makes my life so much easier.” –lara
• “I chop all my veggies needed for the week on Sundays. Makes salad and wrap making much easier.” –paige
• “I sometimes pre-cook veggies in the microwave for a couple minutes before roasting them so they cook quicker – especially baked sweet potatoes.” – susan
• “My cooking tip is to read blogs for cooking tips. HAHA!” –ildie

great tips :)

this morning i woke up to SNOW.. it has been snowing a bunch lately! i heard that the resorts got over 2 feet of fresh snow last night. too bad i am stuck at work all day, every day. the snow does me no good.

i originally planned to have a protein shake this morning, but when i saw the cold weather outside, i opted for a hot breakfast.

meal 1: apricot vanilla protein oats @ 8:45 AM

i made my usual batch of protein oats using 1/3 cup oats, 1.5 cups water, cinnamon and 1 serving of EAS vanilla premium protein powder.

i topped the oats with 1 TB of polaner sugar free apricot preserves. this is a new-to-me product and i definitely give it two thumbs up!

250 calories, 4.5g fat, 26g carbs, 30g protein

the apricot preserves went well with the vanilla and cinnamon in the oats. this combo is definitely going into my protein oats rotation!

i had to make a trip to costco to get some items for the office. i had two samples~ a piece of a trio bar (really liked it!) and three green grapes.

after costco i came back to the office for a light lunch because i ended up with an impromptu late lunch date with an old friend who is in town.

meal 2: apple cinnamon protein coffee cake + brown cow yogurt @ 12:15 PM

i decided that coffee cake goes just as well with greek yogurt as it does with coffee.

i crumbled the cake into the yogurt, a bit at a time.

the apple cinnamon flavors paired fabulously with the tartness of the greek yogurt!

260 calories, 6g fat, 23g carbs, 29g protein

around 2:15, marshall and i picked out the tile for our house! i am so excited! luckily, my brother owns his own tile company so we really are in good hands when it comes to renovating our house. he is going to be the man with the plan! sure am glad my mom is a real estate agent, my brother is a tile expert, my sister in law has a great eye for interior design and i work for a window company. it makes this whole house buying & fixing up thing a lot less stressful!

i went to lunch at gourmandise bakery and when i went to take a photo of my salad, i realized i had my camera but no card. yipes. i left it at work!

meal 3: half of the greek salad with chicken @ 3:30 PM

the greek salad description:

Spring greens topped with Kalamata olives, feta cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, pepperoncini
and croutons, served with our Greek vinaigrette. (Half: $4.95, Full: $6.75). Add roasted chicken breast for $1.50.

and add roasted chicken breast, i did! it came with a roll but i passed on it. that took self control.

i went home after work and changed for the gym. i really wanted to cuddle up with the pups.. but i knew better.

upper body workout day!

here are the details:

• 5 minute warm up on elliptical / resistance level 10

BACK

move	reps	weight
single arm dumbbell row	12 @ 10 @ 8 @ 6 @ 12 @	17.5# db 20# db 22.5# db 25# db 17.5# db
bent over barbell row	12 @	30# barbell

*i did 30 seconds of high knees in between the first four sets, then did the final two sets back to back.

CHEST

move	reps	weight
dumbbell chest press	12 @ 10 @ 8 @ 6 @ 12 @	17.5# dbs 20# dbs 22.5# dbs 25# dbs 17.5# dbs
dumbbell flyes	12 @	12.5# dbs

*i did 30 seconds of butt kicks in between the first four sets, then did the final two sets back to back.

SHOULDERS

move	reps	weight
seated dumbbell press	12 @ 10 @ 8 @ 6 @ 12 @	10# dbs 12.5# dbs 15# dbs 17.5# dbs 12.5# dbs
lateral side & front raises	12 (each)@	5# dbs

*i did 30 seconds of high knees in between the first four sets, then did the final two sets back to back.

BICEPS/TRICEPS

i was short on time, so i decided to superset my biceps and triceps. i did one superset rep of each exercise, then did my 30 seconds of butt kicks to keep my heart rate up, then moved onto the next superset rep. i finished the process off with doing 12 reps of the tricep exercises back to back and then the 12 reps of the bicep exercise back to back.. body for life style. hope that makes sense. if not, just scroll down to the food :)

move	reps	weight
cable tricep pushdowns cable bicep curls cable tricep pushdowns cable bicep curls cable tricep pushdowns cable bicep curls cable tricep pushdowns cable bicep curls cable tricep pushdowns cable bicep curls	12 @ 12 @ 10@ 10@ 8@ 8 @ 6 @ 6 @ 12 @ 12 @	35# 25# 40# 30# 45# 35# 50# 30# 40# 25#
overhead cable extension dumbbell hammer curls	12 @ 12 @	40# 10# dbs

*i did 30 seconds of butt kicks in between the first four sets.

• 5 minutes on elliptical / resistance level 15
• 5 minutes stretching

total time: 45 minutes, calories burned: 310, max HR: 165, ave HR: 132.

my heart rate never gets up there on upper body workout days! but i do feel like i am working hard and lifting heavy enough, that is what matters.

i got home from the gym and immediately refueled with a square of apple cinnamon protein coffee cake.. i can’t get enough of the stuff!

i had been thinking up dinner all day today! one of the packages i received yesterday was from mezzetta and it included some delicious goodies! behold:

roasted red bell peppers, pesto and artichoke hearts.

i used the bell peppers and artichoke hearts in tonight’s meal, the pesto i am saving for another recipe i have in mind.

meal 4: chicken, artichoke & red pepper farfalle with feta + green beans @ 7:30 PM

first, a bit about mezzetta! i was lucky enough to enjoy several of their products when i attended the first annual foodbuzz festival back in november.  i thought that everything i tried was delicious!

from their website:

G.L. Mezzetta is the leading producer of glass-packed peppers olives, and specialty foods in the United States*.

Family-owned since 1935, the fourth generation of the Mezzetta family is continuing the commitment to bring our customers the highest quality foods available. Mezzetta sources the finest fresh produce from the sun-drenched soils of California, Italy, Spain, France, and Greece and prepares them according to our Italian family recipes at our state-of-the-art production facility in Napa Valley. Then, we carefully pack our delicious products in traditional glass jars—ready to eat anytime you want a healthy snack or quality ingredients for your favorite dishes.

Our extended family of employees share a commitment for continued success and customer satisfaction. As a leader in the food industry, G.L. Mezzetta is motivated to ensure the safest and most efficient methods are used in producing our food products to ensure you receive a superior culinary experience every time.

Mezzetta specialty foods are available in retail grocery store across America, as well as club stores, foodservice outlets, fine restaurants, and at our on-line store. Our products can also be found in Canada, the Pacific Rim and Europe.

Mezzetta fits your busy lifestyle.

thanks for fitting into MY busy lifestyle, mezzetta!

for the meal, i diced some boneless, skinless chicken breasts and cooked it with some dried basil and minced garlic.

next, i chopped up the roasted red bell peppers and the artichoke hearts.

i boiled some multigrain farfalle noodles. these have really high protein stats.. 10g for every 2 ounces. not bad for a noodle!

for the sauce, i prepared this sweet basil pesto (you can buy it at target) which is made by simply organic.  for the record, it tells you to prepare the sauce with 1/2 cup water and 1/4 cup olive oil. i used 3/4 cup water and 1 TB olive oil to cut the fat grams and calories. it worked perfectly.

once everything was either cooked, chopped or boiled.. i mixed it all together!

it needed to be warmed through, so i put it back on the stovetop for a few minutes.

to finish the pasta off, i added some fat free feta.

i also cooked some frozen green beans for some added veggie action.

viola! dinner was served!

my thoughts on the mezzetta products? YUM! i didn’t expect any less. but the real test was to see if marshall liked them. he gave the roasted red bell peppers and the artichoke hearts two thumbs up! and you know how i really know he loved the dish? he went back for seconds. that is always a good sign.

special thanks to brita at mezzetta for sending me these delicious products to try and review! disclaimer: i got the items free of charge and i was not paid to review the items.

SO! now we are current. i haven’t decided on meal 5 yet.. while i would love to have another slice of coffee cake i think i should probably switch it up ;)

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about the title of this post, you ask? well, last tuesday i answered two reader questions. i decided to do it again this week! usually i ask YOU GUYS two questions in every post.  on tuesdays, i will still ask my questions, but i will also answer a couple!

Q #1!

stef asked: “you’re going back to school? for what?” (p.s. i miss you stef!)

my answer: yep! i am going back to school. at the ripe old age of 27 (i turn 27 in june, going back to school in august) i will be hanging out with kids almost a decade younger than me. weird.

here is the story.  i took my sweet time (7 years on and off) getting my associates degree. yeah, i know, not so rad. i was not your typical graduate-high-school-then-go-to-college-for-4-years-and-get-a-degree type of person. i opted to work full time, study abroad in london, take time off for reasons that are beyond me, and i finally did get an associates degree about a year ago.

i have never really known what i wanted to study. some call it directionless.. i just call it indecisive.  my employer really wants me to get educated in accounting and they have offered to help me (financially) to get an accounting degree.  sweet!

obviously, i wouldn’t agree to doing this unless it was something i am interested in.  i have always loved numbers and math, i do well with accounting and financial planning.   when the opportunity came up, i put some thought into what my employer suggested and i agreed that it would be a great thing for both me and the company i work for.

SO.. there you have it! janetha b is going back to escuela. should be interesting, seeing as how i am a bit out of practice on the whole homework scene.

Q #2!

since that last one was pretty long, i picked a simple one for number two :)

bre asked: “Are you going to have peach ice cream at the wedding?” (i had mentioned that my wedding date falls on national peach ice cream day!)

my answer: sort of! we are having vanilla bean ice cream (my very favorite flavor of ice cream evvver) and then we will be serving fresh peaches on top! it should be delicious!

there you have it! two questions answered. if you have any questions you would like answered, please send me an email! (janethabenson at gmail dot com)

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in other news…

• i read something interesting today.. check out this article about taking pictures of your food!
• naomi rocks the smoothie stache!

• so does errign!

see you guys tomorrow for waffle wednesday! and perhaps a giveaway.. if i have time :)

Qs~

1. did you/do you go to college? what did you study/are you studying? are you like me.. and took some time off after high school? or did you just get it all done right away? tell me your school story!

2. what is your favorite flavor of jam/preserves? raspberry for me!

xo. janetha b.

p.s. two giveaways: peet’s and vitatops!