What If Workout Programs Were Based On 90's Hip Hop?

Photo from fitsugar.com

I needed a little Monday pick-me-up today, so I made a Pandora station based on Tone-Loc (I don't have him in my iPod (wtf, me?) and wanted some Funky Cold Medina to get me through the day.) I also had 2 coworkers make the station. I highly recommend it. 

So from that I decided I want to make a workout program inspired by the song that would be singing. I'd do all of these for the length of the song-or at least I'd try. I don't know if I could do that many push-ups in a row.

1. "Jump Around" House of Pain- Jump rope and jumping jacks. Note-this song reminds me of Mrs. Doubtfire. I might have to watch it-it's free on Amazon Prime.
2.  "Push It" Salt-N-Pepa- Push Ups or some kind of hand weight arm exercise. Okay, I know that's not the kind of pushing they were referring to, but whatever.
3.  "Walk This Way" Run DMC & Aerosmith-Walk or run in place.
4. "Baby Got Back" Sir Mix-A-Lot- Side bends and situps. Because he specifically asks us to.
5. "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" Big Willie Style- Don't act like you don't remember the dance.
6.  "1 2 3 4 Sumpin New" Coolio- "Get your booty on the floor. Gonna, gonna get up, get down." This song calls for squats and lunges. Probably alternate by 10's or 15's.
7. "Can't Touch This" MC Hammer-The running man/running in place. Probably with some side-to-side action. Check out the video if you don't know what I mean.
8. "Mama Said Knock You Out" LL Cool J- Punches a la tai bo.
9. "Tootsee Roll" 69 Boyz- This one's pretty self-explanatory. But I had to look up the video because I forgot.
10.  "End of the Road" Boyz II Men. Because you're done, and it's a slow song so you can cool down and stretch. And they're from Philly. Plus, I didn't have anything better in mind.

Happy Monday!

I'm a Plant Killer

Not intentionally. I just have kind of a bad track record with plants-especially at my current residence. I killed two smaller plants and two larger plants from Ikea. I also managed to kill a bamboo---I KNOW. I accidentally tore some of his roots when I was moving him into a bigger vase with a new friend. The friend is still alive. I also had an orchid that died after I moved-but they don't like changing their environment, so I don't count that as my fault.

I also killed a Peace Lily at the office. I forgot to water her for too long and then when I did she didn't bounce back so well. Sheldon (my ZZ plant (doesn't everyone name their plants?)) is still alive-- and flourishing I might add. (One of the plants I killed at home was a ZZ. Different environments, perhaps?)

Anyway, I went to the Philadelphia Flower Show on Sunday. It was the last day of the show and we went early so it really wasn't crowded. The exhibits were pretty cool-but so not worth the $28 (at a discount!) entrance fee. But they had a ton of vendors and it was the last day of the show, so a lot of stuff was discounted.

So.

I got three new house plants. They're fairly small and were $13.50 all together, so if they die I won't be too upset about it. I got a ficus. I think I'm going with Freddie for him. Apparently they're pretty easy-so I have high hopes for his survival. I also picked up a crown of thorn that has small pink flowers. Her name is Marlena. I'm iffy about how I'll do with her. Especially since I forget the instructions that were written on the stand. I really should have written that down. The third one I got was a jade. Her name is...wait for it...Jade. Jades are supposed to be good for friendship, luck, and money. I wonder how long I have to keep her alive before the money part kicks in? She seems pretty durable, so fingers crossed!

Anyone have any good houseplant tips? Or should I just believe was Google has to say?

Healthy Cookies

Well, healthier anyway. 

I felt the need to bake this weekend. I wanted to bake for me, not for anyone else. I haven't made anything since before the holidays. Christmas cookies wore me out a little bit. I did, however, win my work's bake-off. Now I can say "My award-winning peanut butter cookies". And I do.

Anyway. I had bought dark chocolate chips and wanted to do something with them because yum. I've had this recipe for a while. It was good to start with, but I modified it a bit. (Originally they were called Bev's Chocolate Chip Cookies from cooks.com or somewhere.)

I got 2 dozen out of this recipe, but they were pretty big.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup rolled oats (I have 5 min oats that were ground in a food processor, but one minute oats work, too).
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup salted butter, softened (I don't use extra salt if the butter's salted)
• 1/4 cup plain applesauce (Bev used canola oil, but I like applesauce or fruit butters)
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1ish cup dark chocolate chips-I always throw a little extra in there

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add applesauce, granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg and vanilla; beat until smooth and creamy. Add the dry ingredients, beating on low speed until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Drop the dough by heaping teaspoonfuls, at least 1 inch apart, onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake cookies about 15 minutes. Cool the cookies for 2 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

I want to try some variations on this. Maybe add in some kind of spice, they seemed a touch flat. I'd also like to sub pumpkin or pumpkin butter for the applesauce and throw in some pumpkin seeds as well. I'd even take out the applesauce and add some peanut butter. The dark chocolate is delicious though, so I'd leave them in.

Sorry for the lack of photos. I'll try to remember to take some next time.