I Was Running Late Last Night

...So I didn't get any pictures of dinner.  I can only imagine how bummed you are.  I know you live for nothing more than pictures of my food.  It turns out that it was OK that I was running late because this was a pretty quick meal.  Last night I made Chicken with Almond Butter from Recipe Girl.

Chicken with Almond Butter

Ingredients
1/2 Cup Almonds - the recipe called for ground almonds, but I didn't have them so I used slivered and overflowed it a little.
2 Tbs Flour
2 Tbs Butter, unsalted at room temperature
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/2 tsp Lemon Zest
1 Tbs Worcestershire Sauce
4 Chicken Breasts, boneless/skinless
1/4 Cup Slivered Almonds

Directions
Oven Temp:  425 degrees
1.  Blend almonds, flour and butter in a food processor (or whatever) until smooth.  Add salt, cayenne, lemon zest, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce and mix blend well.

2.  Pound breasts lightly and spread generously with almond butter.  Place in a buttered baking dish and bake for about 15 minutes (seriously, it only took 15 minutes).

3.  Top with slivered almonds and broil for 30 seconds or until browned.

Eric and I agreed this "almond butter" would be really good on white fish as well.

Caramelettes

We had a bunch of people over for the Super Bowl (or commercials).  When people come over I can't help but to make dessert.  Among other things, I made Caramelettes.  A delicious, sticky recipe I got from my sister-in-law, Amber.


Caramelettes

Ingredients
1 Cup + 3 Tbs flour
1 Cup Rolled Oats
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar, packed
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
3/4 Cup Butter, softened
1 Cup Chocolate Chips
1/2 Cup Walnuts, chopped
3/4 Cup Caramel topping


Directions
1.  In a large bowl, combine 1 cup of flour, rolled oats, brown sugar, baking soda, salt and butter.  Blend well to form crumbs.  I used my fingers.  Then I licked my fingers.  Then I washed my hands, promise.

2.  Press half of mixture into the bottom of a 11" x 7" or 9" pan (I didn't have one available so I used a pie dish).  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

3.  In the meantime mix caramel topping with 3 Tbs of flour.


4.  Remove the dish from the oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts.  Pour the caramel mixture back and forth over the chocolate and nuts.  Sprinkle with the remaining crumbs.  

5.  Continue baking for 15 to 20 minutes.  Chill for 1 to 2 hours before cutting into bars and serving.

6.  Try to save some for your guests.

Slacker

There's a reason I've been a slacker. I haven't made, well much of anything since I last posted.  So I haven't had anything to write about there.  I also had/have an almost-hernia so my workouts have been less than amazing.  I've also been lazy.


I also may be waiting on a guest post from someone.  You know who you are!


The good news is that my almost-hernia is feeling almost perfect.  I'm still taking it a little easy, but I no longer have a stabbing pain in my lower abdomen every time I try to use my abs for anything.  Yay!


So I guess this can bring us to yesterday's WOD.


02/14/11 WOD
A)  Front Squats 5 x 10 (five sets of ten)


B)  3 Rounds
     75 Double Unders
     25 Pull Ups


I went pretty light on the front squats.  Doctor's orders are to breath while lifting for a little while so I've been focusing on form.  I'm focusing on keeping my back flat/arched, my chest up and my knees out.  I need to also work on leading with my elbows coming out of the squat.


Part B of the WOD wasn't so bad until I got to round three.  I was suddenly unable to string double unders together in sets larger than like 6.  And the more frustrated I got, the worse things got.  The key is to relax, but it can be hard to do when you have an inexplicable double under brain fart.