Thursday, June 22, 2006

Step Aerobics: Not a Girl's Best Friend

As part of my ongoing project to improve my rear, I'm ramping up my workouts. I haven't been as diligent with diet and exercise because work's been so crazy, however, my new resolution is to not let work control my life. If I want a rockin' rump, I need to hit the gym. Frequently, in fact.

Last night, I took a Total Body Conditioning class at the gym. I knew it was going to be really hard. Typically it's an aerobic warmup with total body strength training. We had a sub instructor last night who ran it like a circuit training class, only all the aerobic circuits were on steps.

I hate steps. With a passion.

It's hard enough for me to do the class without also trying to figure out how to maneuver over the steps without falling flat on my face. I kept tripping and stumbling. Finally, I gave up watching the instructor and made up my own (undoubtedly ineffective) step routine. Ugh!

I was so exhausted afterward I collapsed on the couch and didn't move. I fell asleep before 10 p.m. and this morning I feel like I was run over by a semi truck. I'm not sore - yet- but I'm definitely wiped out.

Maybe I should have eased back into working out.

Most Recent Cooking Experiment

(Note: I didn't make this last night - I was so tired I could barely scoop chicken salad out of a container. This experiment is from Tuesday night.)

Asparagus with Parmesan Butter
  • 1 pound asparagus, ends trimmed
  • 3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (packed) grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 1/2 ounces)
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried
  • 1 large garlic clove, chopped
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Cook asparagus in large pot of boiling salted water until just crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Drain well. Arrange asparagus on broilerproof platter. Preheat broiler. Beat butter in medium bowl until fluffy. Beat in cheese, basil, garlic and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Drop butter mixture by teaspoonfuls over asparagus. Broil asparagus until topping browns, watching closely to avoid burning, about 3 minutes. Serve hot.

My review: This was absolutely delicious. (Go figure I'd like something with butter and cheese.) The topping was crunchy and dressed up the asparagus. I didn't calculate points on this - I'm guessing 3 or 4 per serving. I think a pound of asparagus serves 4.

I also steamed a corn cob and topped it with a little butter, lime juice and chili powder. Surprisingly good!

4 comments:

shroud said...

Don't know what that guy's deal is.

Anyway, your recipe sounds tasty - I might have to try that. You should try subbing romano for the parmesan though - it's a bit stronger flavor that might come through a little more.

Eljabo said...

Yeah - I don't what his deal was either. I deleted his comment because it reeked of spam. Darn spammers!

I'll have to try romano. Or you and Amy can try it as an accompaniment to one of your Dream Dinners. Just be sure to tell me how it turns out!

amymvt said...

so now one of you needs to tell me what the scoop is on 'that guy' sicne I missed it...

Eljabo said...

Oh some random weirdo spammed some press release in the comments section. It actually made no sense - lots of mumbo jumbo!