Monday, March 27, 2023

Weekly Round Up: A New Spin

 

A weekly round up: eats, workouts, watches, and reads.  This week I discovered a new spin on a classic snack.

Eats

The hubs and I were both craving BBQ this weekend.  I made him a big ol' batch of BBQ Instant Pot chicken and myself a small ol' batch of BBQ tofu which I topped with coleslaw.  We both got what we wanted out of the deal.

On the snack front, I was sitting in front of the TV mindlessly watching Youtube when I came across a bold and revolutionary new way to do PB & apples: slice 'em width wise, scoop out the core, smear with PB, and sprinkle cinnamon and hemp hearts on top.  Like whoa, who knew that there was another way to do something so basic.

Here's the video if you want to get it straight from the source at the 23:30 mark (yes the name of the video really is "Dietitian Attempts to Eat Like Jennifer Aniston" and no I don't have a handy dandy tiny cookie cutter like she does so I just use a small knife to cut out the core).

Workouts

After debating which way to go with my workouts, I finally settled on a second round of Iron.  Given that it's been six months, the workouts feel new but at the same time it feels like coming home to an old friend.  It's fair to say that 99.9% of Caroline Girvan workouts are excellent but the Iron workouts are even more so.

Watches

I'm late to the party, but I'm here now.  I finally started watching White Lotus.  It's fun.

Reading

Man, I'm just a reading machine lately!  

  • I finished Just One Look, the "temp job gone wrong" thriller and it checked all of my boxes.  It started good and then got way, way, way better.
  • Currently reading: I've been on the lookout for "better" books than my usual diet of thrillers and I've got one c/o Kyria's 2022 booklistThe 100 Years of Lenni and Margot is about a friendship between a 17 year old girl and an 83 year old woman (combined age 100 years hence the title) who meet in the hospital where they're both patients.  I'm pretty sure that there will be some kleenex involved before it's all over, but my 30% of the way in review is that this is hella good book.
  • And I've got an audio book going!  I've been on such a podcast kick that I haven't had much room for audio books in a good long while.  My very long Libby hold for Crying in H Mart finally came in.  My rating so far is "I really like it but I'm not obsessed with it so I'm glad that I got it on Libby".  I'm pretty sure that there will be kleenex involved with this one as well.

20 comments:

  1. I am so glad you are liking Lenni and Margot so far! I really did love that book; it was one of those ones that you pick up and you just can't put down. I listened to it as an audiobook and I was making up excuses to get in the car just so I could keep reading! I also liked Crying in H Mart, but not quite as much as Lenni and Margot.

    I just checked out your Iron workout and it looks like there are weights in all of them? Do you have a good recommendation for one without weights? I have tried the Fitness Blender HIIT workouts and I do like them, but I do need to get back into the swing of doing more strength work.

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    1. I can't explain why I looked at your book list and went "the book about two terminally ill hospital patients??? That's right up my alley!" but for some reason it grabbed my attention and I'm loving the journey.

      Aw heck yeah Iron has weights! But Caroline Girvan has a whole slew of body weight only workouts as well. I'll be checking these out when I go on vacation.
      https://www.youtube.com/@CarolineGirvan/playlists?view=50&sort=dd&shelf_id=12

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    2. Thanks! I checked out her playlists and they look doable. I will try one and report back!

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  2. Libby for the win!
    When do you listen to audio books and podcasts? While cooking, maybe? I never seem to have my ears free to listen to something while I'm doing something else.
    No commutes, no long runs, not much cooking - I guess my life is too boring!

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    1. I just listen to things here and there...dog walking, driving (barely any on weekdays but a lot on weekends now), while cleaning, and sometimes while cooking. It adds up!

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  3. You just reminded me that I never actually finished the Iron Series- I still have a couple workouts left. Not that it matters, but I want to go back and complete it!
    That bbq tofu sounds amazing. I'm going to send the recipe to my son- he and his roommate are trying all different ways of cooking with tofu and I think they would like this.
    So, I just finished Wrong Place, Wrong Time and it was even better than I was expecting. Even though so many people raved about it, I was still a little suspicious of the time travel element, but no- it was great. Thanks for that recommendation!

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    1. Your son and his roomie should do a blog or Instagram to document their tofu journey! It's fun.

      I put off reading WPWT forever because the plot description sounded so weird. But I kept hearing raves so I finally tried it and I'm glad that I did.

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  4. I thought that was a picture of bagels at first! Now I want a bagel...

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  5. I think I'm might go back to Iron if I can ever finish Fuel. I still have five days left and keep coming up with excused not to do them. Ha! I guess I need to just push myself.

    I DNFed Crying in HMart. Grief memoirs are tricky for me and this one just didn't do it for me. I'll be interested in hearing about your reaction to it.

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    1. You're allowed to skip the rest of Fuel if you want to! There's no reward for finishing. I remember that it started feeling kind of old by the end. Looking back I really should have skipped the last few weeks of Epic III...oh well if I had known now what I knew then. I think my go-to will be Iron/Beast Mode alternated with her other programs so that I get the balance of what works and new stuff.

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  6. I don't eat peanut butter, but I am going to share that apple "hack" with my husband because he will LOVE it. Not least because it will give him an opportunity to use our apple corer -- a single use tool that I was against buying and now refuse to use on principle. A knife works JUST FINE.

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    1. Woot! I'm Team Knife but I'm happy to have helped out Team Corer.

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  7. I need to try that apple hack!

    The 100 years book sounds so good! ahh! Thanks for telling us about it!

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    1. 100 years was a winner! But heads up I spent the last 10% of the book sobbing and then had a good cry afterwards.

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  8. That sandwich in the title pic is EVERYTHING! I can almost taste it, LOL.Thanks for the reminder about White Lotus...I'm the last living human who has not seen it (yet).

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    1. I just finished the first season last night. Thumbs up!

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  9. But wait... did you make the coleslaw? Buy it? I am a coleslaw fiend in the summer (only the summer, unless I'm out at a restaurant [very rare] and want it on my salad [better than dressing]).
    Also, mmm, bbq tofu. Or soy curls. Hm.
    I always, always strike out on Libby. I swear that app hates me. Ha.

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