Monte Cristo Sandwich - Healthy Style

I really like this sandwich because it mixes the best of sweet and spicy. It fills me up after a long run, and packs a huge punch full of the protein and other good stuff I need during my body's recovery process. Did I mention that it tastes scrum-didely-umptious?

The Motley Crew:

• 4 turkey breast slices -- aprox 4-oz each
• 1 tsp olive oil, divided
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup eggbeaters
• 1 tbsp almond milk
  
• Cayenne pepper, to taste
• 1 tbsp honey mustard
  
• 2 slices whole-grain bread
• 1/2 cup baby spinach leaves
• 1/2 pear, thinly sliced
• 1 1-oz slice low-fat Swiss cheese

The Method:

Start it out in a bowl and take the turkey slices and drizzle the olive oil over top. Toss in the oregano, salt and black pepper. My favorite part, get messy and make sure that the surfaces are all covered with the ingredients.

Next up take a nonstick pan and put it at about medium heat. Take out the turkey slices and throw them in and cook each side until it is light brown. Should go pretty fast, just a minute to a minute and a half a side. Take them out of the pan, and I just threw it back in the original bowl while I worked on the next part.

In a different dish, whisk up the egg beaters and milk. Toss in a little smidgen of sea salt, pepper, and cayenne. Okay, I tossed in a bunch of Cayenne, but that is up to personal preference. Push off to the side for a few minutes.

Now take the slices of bread and spread the honey mustard on one side each. Start layering on the ingredients. Be generous with the spinach because it will shrivel up a bit in the next step. Add on the pear and turkey. Finish with a lovely piece of cheese, and the other piece of bread, and voila! Ready for the really fun part.

Heat up the nonstick pan again and add a teaspoon of oil back on medium heat. I find using tongs works the most efficient for keeping the little bugger together. Dip the sandwich in the egg beaters mixture, immersing a good part of the bread. Move it over to the pan and cook until golden brown (like if you were making french toast). Remove and soak other side of sandwich, then put back on the pan for another few minutes.

That's all there is, it is ready to eat. I love this after a good workout.

The Healthy Facts:

• Calories: Aprox. 430
  
• Total Fat: 7 g
• Sat. Fat: 2 g,
  
• Carbs: 34 g
• Fiber: 6 g
• Sugars: 9 g
• Protein: 53 g
• Sodium: 750 mg
• Cholesterol: 105 mg

Adapted from Clean Eating

Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred

I am a lemming. Not really, but I thought I would jump on the bandwagon. The winter weather is driving me crazy and I need to mix up my workouts a bit. Others seemed to have some mild success with the 30 Day Shred DVD, so why not give it a try? With my super saving deal I purchased this and 6 Week 6 Pack for only $9.

I am going to keep a running tally of my 30 day's in this post. It should be noted that I am also mixing in my traditional running and weight workouts. This is only going to be a supplement to my regular training schedule.

Let's rock it out!

DAY 1, LEVEL 1: Did not realize I needed hand weights. Need to buy some of those. Oops. Temporary replacement, two cans of corn. It worked. I can feel it in my biceps, triceps, biceps femoris and sartorius muscles. This may also be from my 5 mile run last night, but I suspect the lunges in the workout have something to do with the it all. Surprisingly, after 20 minutes I actually did work up a bit of a sweat.

DAY 2, LEVEL 1: I messed up my calve muscles and was walking around all day with the "saddle walk". Since I was so cramped up this morning, I waited to do the workout in the evening. Still did not buy weights, so the corn cans had to do. A twitter buddy suggested, "Cans work... so do water bottles.. and if you are feeling adventurous gallon jugs :)" To which I replied, "I'm only up to half gallon jugs o_0" I'm waiting for the 6-pack to develop, but alas, right now I will settle for my calve muscles cooperating.

DAY 3, LEVEL 1: I was a slacker and didn't do it. Okay, not really a slacker, I ran 7 miles and think that qualifies as enough cardio. Back to the grind tomorrow though.

DAY 4, LEVEL 1: I went out today and purchased some cheap 3 lb hand weights. Apparently they do make the exercises more difficult than cans of corn. Who knew? And to think, I almost sprung a couple extra bucks for the 5 lb weights. Thank goodness I am cheap because my arms were crying at the end. I also decided to multitask a bit and watch the season finale of "Downton Abbey" on PBS with Jillian on mute on my computer. FYI ~ Jillian is just as effective as a trainer with or without volume.

The Winter Warpath

My first mistake was thinking that if my sidewalks were cleared off, everyone would be diligent enough to clean off theirs as well.

This face about says it all. I would like to publicly thank all the folks that remove their snow in a timely fashion. For those that are not as diligent, well I was always told that if you don't have anything good to say--

Anyways, I am going to take the suggestion of my blogger buddy Sharla and consider this to be my own personal Warrior Dash/Muddy Buddy/Hell Run. But I would also like to add in a new kind of race -- The Winter Warpath.

In the course of just over an hour, I trudged through snow drifts, splashed with slush by on coming cars, climbed over snow banks, and slid on icy patches. It was awesome!

A couple highlights, as I was running over an over pass I almost rolled my previously injured left ankle. That would have stunk, thankfully after stretching it out for a bit the tenderness wore off. Was able to continue on with no pain.

At one point I had to go into the road because there was simply no way to stick to the sidewalk. Of course there are vehicles who do not understand the whole -- lets slow down because it is slick outside -- mentality. Nervous that they would swerve at me, I threw myself into a snowbank, also listed on the graphic above as "Dug tunnel through snowbank".

It was windy, it was slick, and it was snowy. Thankfully my feet stayed pretty dry and I was able to finish my scheduled 7 mile run. Absolutely tickled pink with my 8:51/mile pace considering the conditions. Honestly, I felt like I was going like a snail, so it was a bit of surprise when I plugged that into my computer.

A side note: I love that the nike run girl on my green chart is wearing shorts and a tank, because she would not. survive. it. in. Wisconsin. Just sayin'.

Apparently playing in the snow makes me feel like a kid again. Makes me wonder if there are winter run races with snow tunnels and required snow angel making during the course? If so, could someone send me the info because I think I may have found my new love?