Herb n’ Pig

Happy weekend!! I’m on the eternal weekend over here… I’ve been unemployed for exactly 8 weeks now! Or, I should say, “without work.” It’s an intentional stint of unemployment, but I am getting antsy to get my hands dirty again :)

 
There is chicken bacon in the fridge that needs to be eaten up, but I also really wanted pancakes for breakfast.

 
So I made both.

 
Mixed up a double batch of my oatmeal cottage cheese protein pancakes (minus the sweeteners) and threw in the cooked bacon.

 

I do not recommend this cottage cheese.Watery with a rubbery taste. Ew.

Bacon and maple syrup are an amazing combo… too bad I’m hooked on the sugar-free stuff.

 

 
Just another piece of evidence that bacon does in fact make everything better.

 
As a side note, Sister Sara ate hers with real maple syrup and half a banana. She’s a girl who knows how to do it right ;)

I spent all morning putting 118 Banff photos on Facebook so my dad can see them.

 
It was a gruelling task that had to be fuelled by a High Protein Banana Bar with greek yogurt. Parfait a la K!

Then I received this text message:

That was all the push I needed to get my butt in gear and to the gym!!

I ran the 7 minutes it takes to get the gym. I LOVE being able to run to the gym. It makes weight days seem so much easier. I just run there, do my thang in the weight room, and run back. None of this cardio machine silliness.

Another full-body day with an emphasis on the upper body. My glutes are still hammered from my last session!

 

Exercise	Weight	Reps	Sets	Target
Step-up (alternating legs)	50 lbs	20	3	Quads, Glutes, Calves
One arm dumbbell row	25 lbs	10	3	Back
Stiff leg deadlift	50 lbs	10	3	Lower back, hamstrings, glutes
Incline dumbbell fly	15 lbs ea	10	3	Chest, front of shoulders
Dumbbell pullover	20 lbs	10	3	Chest, front shoulders, top of back
Side lunge with dumbbell front raise	7.5 lbs ea	10	3	Glutes, inner thighs, quads, front shoulder
Standing calf raise (on machine)	85 lbs	10	3	Calves
Cable pushdown	60 lbs	10	3	Triceps
Plank off bench	n/a	60 sec	3	Abs
Standing dumbbell curl	12.5 lbs ea	10	3	Biceps

Colour coded again! Matching colours = alternating sets. Even though I only did one isolated ab move, I feel like I got a good core workout with this one. Those dumbbell pullovers require a lot of stabilization in that area.

Refuelled with a big ole’ green salad in anticipation for my rib feast later. Just the typical garden salad with tuna for my protein, mozzarella cheese for my fat, and watered down hummus for the dressing.

Then it was on to my special project for the day.

I had a whack of rosemary left after making boeuf bourguignon. My mind immediately went to Banff. The yoga studio we went to was located above a bakery that smelled like herbed focaccia. It was mouth watering.

 
For some reason though, I didn’t feel like focaccia. No, I wanted biscuits. Something I could eat with eggs in the morning, or perhaps a rack of ribs ;)

 

Buttermilk biscuits are traditional, yes, but silly when you also have a tub of yogurt in the fridge waiting to be used.

 

A quick Google search lead me to this Emeril Lagasse recipe.

Rosemary Biscuits:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup buttermilk 3/4 cup plain greek yogurt

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Work the butter into the flour with your fingertips or a fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the rosemary. Add 1/2 cup of the buttermilk a little at a time, using your hands to work it in just until incorporated and a smooth ball of dough forms. Add up to additional 1/4 cup buttermilk if necessary, being very careful not to overwork the dough or the biscuits will be tough.

On a lightly floured surface, pat the dough into a circle about 7 inches in diameter and 1/2-inch thick. Using a 1-inch round cookie cutter, cut out 12 biscuits.

Place the biscuits on a medium baking sheet. Bake until golden on top and lightly browned on the bottom, 10 to 12 minutes. Serve warm.

Yield: 12 mini biscuits (I got 20)

 
No cookie cutters were found in my sister’s kitchen, however there was a nice assortment of shot glasses.

 

 
I really hope my new apartment in Toronto is well-cooled. I don’t know how I’ll survive baking with a 450F oven otherwise.

 
They were done in 10 minutes flat and smelled heavenly. Almost as good as Rocky Mountain Yoga!!

 

I calculated the nutritionals on these, and because they’re so small, one biscuit is only 44 calories. #win.

 
As per the baking rules, I had one immediately out of the oven with butter.

 
My first ever batch of biscuits were not only downright delicious (toot toot) but also crazy simple!! I keep passing all these wonderful bakeries here in Ottawa, and then think to myself that it’s so much more fun to just bake at home :)

Afterwards Sara and I went to a 90-minute Hatha Flow class. It was pretty fun! I did this:

Just with the assistance of two people and a couple straps ;)

Then it was time for RIBS. Ohbaby.

Ottawa has this thing called Ribfest where a bunch of restaurants set up grills down a pedestrian street and sell nothing but pulled pork sandwiches and ribs.

 
People get pretty excited about it, but I can’t think of a more messy food to eat on the side of the street.

 
Sara was down there over lunch and picked up extra for me!

Paired with a baked-fresh Rosemary Yogurt Biscuit. 

And my first ever pulled pork sandwich!! It was good, although a little too much on the sauce-y side for me. How is it that ribs don’t taste like the rest of the pig??

Anyways, as you can see this was all incredibly delicious. But mygoodness I am paying for it now. Too much barbecue sauce for this tummy. It’s awfully hard to indulge when my stomach insists on rebelling like this!!

I hope it’s better for eggs and biscuits in the morning :)

See ya tomorrow!! xoxo