Let's make some salmon...

Garlic Dijon Smothered Salmon with Lemon Herb Essence

I purchase my salmon from the local farmer's market in Kensington, MD.  The seafood guy there has an amazing selection of fish, shrimp, scallops, etc.  I email him by Thursday of that week and tell him how big of a piece I want as most times I don't get there until later and all of the salmon is sold out.  When I make this recipe I generally get a piece of salmon as long as the tip of my middle finger, up to my elbow.  Then I slice it in smaller pieces, coat and bake them and then freeze them.  I take them out the day before I want to eat them and they reheat very nicely in a pan, or are even delicious cold. =)

Remove the skin from the bottom of the salmon and slice into single serving strips.  Here is a linked video to help you accomplish this task easily.

You will need:

Organic Garlic - I generally use 2 cloves per salmon piece

Organic Lemons - 1 lemon for every two salmon pieces

Organic Dijon Mustard (no calories, if your mustard has calories - read the label)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Coconut Oil (1 tsp for every two salmon pieces)

Mrs. Dash or some type of non-salt herb mixture.

Instructions:

Chop garlic very fine - use a spoon or a knife to crush the diced garlic until it gets pasty.  I use the Slap Chop and then I crush with a spoon in a shallow bowl.

Add 2 TBSP Dijon mustard per two salmon pieces

Add 1 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil per 3 salmon pieces

Mix together.  Let rest while you prepare the rest of the dish.

Roll lemons while pressing down on them on the counter to help soften the pulp/fibers inside and release some of the juice.

Slice lemons into semi thick slices. You should get 5 - 6 slices per lemon.  See bottom photo for example of thickness.  If the slices are too thin they will dry out and do not release as much lemon flavor/essence into the bottom of the salmon.

Place lemons on the bottom of a pan covering the entire bottom of the pan.  

FYI - Try not to use aluminum foil when cooking fish as it effects the taste of the fish.  Try to use a glass or pyrex pan if possible.  If you have extra lemon slices that is great.  You can place them on top of the fillets after they are in the pan and sprinkle with some more herb mixture.  If not, no biggie. =)

Sprinkle the herb mixture on top of the lemons in the pan.  Again, the ideas is that as the lemons heat, their moisture will help create the herb-lemon essence moving up through the fish as it bakes.

Smear the garlic/dijon mixture onto each piece of salmon.  Place them on top of the rows of lemon slices in the pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  Serve immediately, or let rest/cool and then place in containers to be frozen for later use.  DO NOT over bake.

ENJOY! =)

Let's make some salsa...

Wash tomatoes and slice them in half.

Place tomatoes on the best invention ever for slicing/dicing stuff - The Magic Chopper / Chop Wizard / Vidalia Chopper

Another view point





















Get some strength training in and slam down the top to create perfectly diced tomatoes.

Add red and yellow onions also diced in the chop wizard.

 Add jalapenos as desired.

Stir all ingredients together.  Use on everything.  I use this with eggs, on all of my wraps and with salads.

Enjoy!

61 Days...

I am now 61 days into my Facebook Motivational Program and it is going just excellent.  

I took Friday off as a rest day and then wanted to make up for some of the cardio/strength I missed - so yesterday I took my bike outside in the first time that I have owned it in easily 8-ish years and I took took an hour and 50 minute bike ride and I went 9.18 miles.  Thank you Spark People tracking program for allowing me to map exactly where I went with Google Maps then calculating, based on my time and weight, how many calories I burned - which was 745.  A normal day of cardio for me is around 420 calories burned.

I am very proud of this accomplishment and especially since I can still walk the next day.  I was up at 6:30a (sleeping in an hour and a half from my weekday wake up time) and ready to rock and roll. =)

Feeling very proud of myself these days. =)

Biggest Loser 10 Week Challenge and a 5k Training Program - Week 2

Week 2 - 3/16 - 3/22 Report:

Biggest Loser 10 Week Challenge:

- Lost 2.4lbs
- Ran a 5k at a time of 51:44 down from my 60:33 last June. Very proud! =)

- Drank over six 8oz glasses of water every day

- Did standing push ups once a day when I went to the bathroom from all of the water.

- Three times during the week I drank a glass of water with my food which helps fill the stomach and reduces the amount you want to eat.

- Did the last chance workout on top of my regular workout which is 5 more minutes of cardio on my 45 minutes, and 2 core exercises, 2 lower body exercises and 2 upper body exercises.

March 15 - 22nd: 5k Your Way - Week 2 Training Sessions:

Day 1: Walk for 3 minutes, then jog for 1.5 minute. Do 5 cycles of this for a total of 27 minutes. (DONE on 3/15)

Day 2: Walk for 3 minutes, then jog for 1.5 minute. Do 5 cycles of this for a total of 27 minutes. (DONE on 3/17)

Day 3: Walk for 3 minutes, then jog for 1.5 minute. Do 6 cycles of this for a total of 31.5 minutes. (Moving to next week schedule..) 

I am finding this to be harder than I had thought.  I think that I am really bored with the treadmill/bike routine I have been doing for two months now.  The weather is starting to get better and so I might try to do one of these outside to see if that changes the way that I physically feel while/after doing it.

=)

Biggest Loser 10 Week Challenge and a 5k Training Program - Week 1

A year ago when I was on the Biggest Loser Club site I was involved in a Boot Camp group that had an 8 week challenge, mini challenges, inter-team challenges, and side team challenges.  It really became quite overwhelming.  I am still a perfectionist in a lot of ways, and having all of those demands and not being able to meet them all as I had just started from a fitness standpoint was hard for me.  I felt a little defeated each week when I didn't accomplish everything assigned for the week.  Also my motivation wasn't really to change the scale, but how I thought I appeared to the group as someone who wasn't giving 100%.  Don't get me wrong, I had some great experiences and some awesome successes (I LOVE competition!) but overall it was a bit stressful for me just getting into the food changes I was making and what I was just learning about nutrition, and I had just started being physically active.

It is now almost a year later.  I have learned so much more about my nutrition.  My fitness is at a new level.  I have been doing awesome on my "Facebook Accountability Plan" where I am working out 45 mintues of cardio / 45 minutes of strength training 6 days per week.  I am on Day 42 today (Rest Day) and I have been consistent!  The simple idea of posting to Facebook that I didn't get in my workout is terrifying to me and that is what has kept me going.  I know eventually there will probably be a day that I will probably miss for one reason or another - but I am doing everything in my power to prolong that from happening as long as possible. =)

Admittedly, I am getting a little bored in my workout routines.  Therefore the other day when I was reading the message boards on SparkPeople and I saw that a group of people had just finished their Biggest Loser Winter Challenge and they were actively recruiting for their Biggest Loser Spring Challenge - I was intrigued.  10 weeks, weigh-in's are on Wednesday.  There is also one inter-team challenge (ITC) with a bonus for extra points each week.  There are about 17 teams of 25 people each.  It starts 3/9 (first weigh in) and runs through 5/18 (final weigh in).

Hmmm.  Was I ready to take this on?  I remember the overwhelming thoughts from doing this last time.  That is part of the reason that I didn't join any teams when I first came here.  I am on a good steady pace just doing this by myself right now.  Do I want to potentially rock that boat?  

One of my rules: Get and stay out of my comfort zone.  Nothing exciting ever happens in my comfort zone.

Well, I figured I am already doing 90 min/day, the scale is consistently going down each week, I don't have to really change my routine at all and the ITC's are a reasonable addition to my routine.  So why not get some extra support in a team environment again, earn some extra "points" in a group challenge aside from my regular SparkPeople points and just see how it goes.  I signed up on the thread and a few days later I was placed on the Kiwi team.

Then yesterday I logged in to track my nutrition and I see there is a SparkPeople Virtual 5k Your Way Training Program.  You choose if you want to walk, walk/jog, rookie running, running plan, 10k, 1 mile beginner's walk, or 1 mile beginner's run.  I thought - I can do this.  I had been trying the Couch to 5k program to switch up my routine, I already do about 25 minutes on the treadmill each day as it is, I am already interval training in speed or increasing incline every 1/16 of a mile - why not train for a 5k.  At least it will switch up my routine 3 times per week.

Then later in the day I see that my Kiwi team has issued a start-up challenge.  It says, "Let's have a 5k run walk crawl. Starting Monday you need to keep track on how long it take you to do it in minutes. Then you weigh in on Wednesday. Then in Week 10 We can do the same thing. You can see if you got faster or easier on the 5 k. We look forward to setting new records for ourselves!!!!  Post your start times here and your end times here or explain how it is easier at the end."

Well that makes sense.  5k at the start and 5k at the end as a measurement of the difference of a 10 week challenge.  It also corresponds with this 5k training program and it probably would be good to get a new gauge on how long it takes me to do a 5k.  I have only done it once intentionally on my treadmill last July and my time was 60:33 at a 3 incline.

So here is what I have now committed to for this week:

Biggest Loser Challenge:

March 7 - 8th:  Run a timed 5k and post to the thread (plan on doing this Monday 3/7)

March 9th:  First Official Weigh In

March 9th - 15th:  ITC Week 1 - Try something new - Challenge yourself to choose something in your fitness routine that you have never done before.  IE: Workout with Kettlebells, a stability ball, weights, or if you already use them try a new exercise with them.  Just do something of your choice that you have never done for 5 out of the 7 days.  Do 2 sets of 20 reps each of those days.  Or if it is something you time, like a stationary bike, do it for 10 minutes.  Bonus ITC - 4 sets of 20 reps or 20 minutes

For this challenge I am going to choose a chest exercise (or a couple of them) for the BowFlex and do that for the 4 sets of 20 reps to try to get the Bonus points.  My current strength training is 6 core and 9 legs/arms alternating days.  Therefore there aren't many chest exercises going on.  I also printed out all of the possible exercises of the BowFlex in July of last year and have barely done any as I do most of my strength training through SparkPeople so that will be a great way to start to get to know the BowFlex a little better.

March 15th:  Last Chance Workout - add 5 more minutes of cardio to my 45 minutes or 100 Jumping Jacks.  Strength training choose two from each category:

Core:
25 crunches
25 side bends (with or without weights)
25 hip flexors

Lower Body:
25 squats
25 leg lifts
25 bridges

Upper Body:
25 bicep curls
25 boxers
25 pushups (your choice of type)

Other: Drink an extra 8 oz. of water.



SparkPeople 5k Your Way:

March 6 - 12th:  Run a timed 5k and post results to tracker (can be same 5k as above on 3/7)  I figured that since I had to do it for the above, I may as well join this week's 5k race too. =)

March 6 - 12th:  Complete 2 more 5k Your Way Training Sessions (I can do Day 2 during my 5k above)

Day 1: Walk for 4 minutes, then jog for 1 minute. Do 5 cycles of this for a total of 20 minutes.  (DONE on 3/5)
Day 2: Walk for 4 minutes, then jog for 1 minute. Do 5 cycles of this for a total of 20 minutes.
Day 3: Walk for 4 minutes, then jog for 1 minute. Do 6 cycles of this for a total of 30 minutes. 

So that works out quite well.  That one 5k will knock out three commitments on two challenges all in one day and time wise it will probably be just a bit over what I am already doing for cardio for the day anyway. =)

WOOT!  No one can ever say I'm not efficient. =)