Pin-Test: Breakfast Sandwich Eggs

I'm going back to school.

The reality of that didn't fully hit me until about 8am this morning as I woke up going, "hey stupid - you ever going to order your books"?

After hemming some jeans that have been staring at me from a corner of my room for about a month pleading to be Kim's size and worn, I got on the book renting hunt. THEN, I looked at my class schedule.

How the heck am I going to eat dinner on M/T/W if I leave work at 5:00pm, and have class at 6:00pm?  Taco Bell and/or Pringles are not going to cut it 3 days a week. 

Enter my desperate search for "easy to prep", "easy to store", "easy on the budget", and "easy on the waistline" recipes on Pinterest.  In my search I found this link on how to make the "guts" of a breakfast sandwich.  I'll eat breakfast for dinner. Why not?

The recipe information can be found HERE.

PS - I got smart on this post and took pictures.  Ya'll ready?

Preheat that oven to 350 degrees.

First, if you are going to post pictures of your kitchen, clean your stove. I had to crop these pictures for weak stomachs.

Second, grab a muffin tin.

Third, give that pan a good spray of PAM.

Put the eggies in the pan and season to your liking.

I did salt and pepper. 

I didn't want to get all cray on my first attempt at this. 

Next time, I think I'll have a seasoning adventure.  :)

Oh yeah, look at that delicious egg 

Ready to get it's cook on.

Throw the pan in the oven; cook for 15-20 minutes.

My oven always requires a few extra minutes for everything I cook, so I was closer to the 20 minute mark

 COOKED!

I shall remind you that this is me, and sometimes I get really excited about things and don't plan.

Meaning: I didn't have English muffins.

So, away in the fridge these go, waiting for me to go to the store tomorrow.

I should let ya know... I totally snagged a bite...

... they were DELICIOUS.






The only change I would make to the recipe is to salt and pepper the pan before putting the egg in, then doing your other seasoning on top.  This creates an over-all seasoning... not just one side.

I also think that layering bottom of english muffin/egg/ham/top of english muffin will create a egg-celent meal (yeah, I went there).

I Deserve a Doughnut Friday

First of all, http://www.ideserveadonut.com/ was NOT as I was expecting it.  The tag-line "and other lies that make you eat" made me want to throw 1/2 chewed pieces of my doughnut at the computer. (but then I'd be out a doughnut, and that's not happening). 

Um, I'm sorry, you and kimterest.blogspot.com (notice no rouge "n" in that web address?) have PRIME internet real estate, and you are telling people they DON'T deserve a doughnut?  People. People. People. All things in moderation.

I mean, it's not like it's called "I deserve 62 doughnuts and an entire chocolate cake Friday"

(Side note: I kinda feel like I'm going to get some hate mail from http://www.ideserveadonut.com fans)
(Side note 2: It's very fitting that this post should follow in the heels of my Ab workout "fun")

Ready to know all about this day?

"I deserve a doughnut Friday" is just that... it's the one day a week where I deserve a doughnut. 

This tradition is pretty awesome and everyone should join in.

And why do I deserve this sweet glazed fried dough confectionery?

1) I work very hard during the week
2) I run almost every-other-day

3) Did you NOT see the Ab program I'm doing?

4) I live in a VERY limited budget - $0.99 ain't gunna break the bank

5) Why the hell not?

You all have approx 7 hours left in the day.  Go forward internet lovers, and get yourself a doughnut! (If you can find a place open at 5:00pm)

Otherwise, maybe life is just telling you that you need to start "I deserve a doughnut Saturday".

Build Awesome Abs for 2013 (or die trying)

I woke up sometime in December 2012 obsessing over my abs.  A little voice in my head continued to nag: "don't you want super nice abs?", "you know, it's not going to be winter forever - you will need to wear a bathing suit again." and my personal favorite "What? You are too lazy to do some measly sit-ups every-other-day?"

So began my hunt on Pinterest to find an Ab workout that:
a) I would follow
b) Wasn't nothing but crunches
c) Could be adapted on days that I was feeling extra energized, or days I was feeling extra lazy

The full "Slice and Dice" awesome ab workout can be found HERE.  I, as I do with many things in life, have altered this to fit my own wants and needs (and frankly, my own personal "I don't wanna do that" tendencies).

For those of you who hate being forced into another webpage, the Kim version of the workout is below.

1. Ab Exercise 1 — Swiss Ball Jackknives
2 sets, 15 reps

Yes, you look like a fool when doing this exercise.

Yes, it takes lots of practice to get the foot/ball stabilization to work in your favor.

Yes, I highly recommend it.

Side Note: If you are doing this in the gym... face towards the equipment.  Nothing worse than going all "Stink-Bug" in the mat area and realizing that your butt is facing the world, not your pretty little face.

2. Ab Exercise 2 — Bench V Ups
3 sets, 15 reps

Well, good luck finding a bench in the gym where you can do these.  I wont lie, I typically just do "Sitting V-Ups" on the mat where I'm doing everything else.

(Are you asking what the heck are sitting V-Ups? Same concept, just not on a bench.)

If you are lucky enough to find a bench where someone isn't going all AGRO on the weights, these will totally kick your butt.

3. Ab Exercise 3 — Decline Swiss Ball Planks
2 sets, 45 seconds             

Same deal as the swiss ball jack knives, Party People... getting your groove on with a swiss ball can be treacherous.

This one is pretty self explainatory... but I will leave you with this... good luck getting all 45 seconds in.  It'll work all the places you want it too!

4. Ab Exercise 4 — Swiss Ball Leg Lifts
2 sets, 12 reps

At this point I should probably mention that you need a swiss ball.

Oops.

These I enjoy.  They have just the right amount of leg workout in them as well to make you feel like you're hitting more places than just your abs.

Side note: when done with my reps, I like to let the swiss ball roll down my legs and catch it. Yeah - I'm pretty much 6, but I dare you to try it and not keep doing it every time.

5. [Superset] Mason Twists
2 sets, 25 reps

 Love. Love. Love. Love.

No, really.

I could do these over and over and over again and love every second of the pain that ensues.

I highly recommend staring at your toes.  That will keep your legs from flailing around wildly as other gym members stare at you wondering if you are convulsing.

 

6. Ab Exercise 7 — One Arm Alternating Planks
3 sets, 15 seconds per arm

 I always save these for last.

I shouldn't, because I loath them. Enter human nature and blah blah blah....

I am hoping these help improve my arm strength, that's the only reason I do them along with all these other ab destroying exercises.

 

That's it!  Ta-da!

I know, I know... there are some of you who actually clicked on the link I provided early on... and you are screaming at the computer screen, "YOU FORGOT SOME!"

Welcome to my "NOPE" exercises:

I'm not gunna do them, and you can't make me.  I'm sure they would add much value to my workout. I mean, the author of that article didn't just add them for flair.  Please, by all means make them "Yup" exercises in your routine, just don't expect me to jump on board.

Results:  Well, I finally did what I've been threatening to do and took "before" pictures.  I will keep this up for 30ish days and then take "after" pictures.  If I'm not super embarrassed to show off my gut on this blog, you'll get to see them.

If I am.... weeeellll, we are just going to pretend this post never happened.