Sarah the cute one asked about spinning classes. I take them at my gym. When I can, I go to the classes offered by the best spinning instructor of all time who inspired me to get a bike of my own. I totally get the endorphin rush afterward, and, yes, I am addicted. Spinning, Donna style, is supposed to be like training for a bike race. I will say that it feels like you are working different muscles than when you ride a road bike, though. I don't know any way to describe it other than that it's a different kind of sore. It's still fun, though, and heck of hard work if you are pushing yourself. What else is there to say about it? I recommend doing yoga afterward. I have weird back and posture issues that are not made any better by biking, and yoga helps. What else? Hmm... I don't know. Try it out. It's not as hard as it sounds, and it's a lot of fun.
Memories of songs learned in childhood have been haunting me lately. First it was "The Cat Came Back," sung on last weeks installment of This American Life. Today, I ran across this video on Pieces of Flair:
I remember the words and the motions. I don't remember wearing vinyl dresses and hats. Too bad.
Lunch bags that actually look good. And they're only $10! I just hope they hold more than those skinny little Lean Cuisine dinners. I hate Lean Cuisine. Or any other frozen dinner, for that matter. Why even bother pack your lunch if you're just eating frozen dinners, anyway? Bleh. Oh well. I am going to buy one and fill it with tasty, homemade salads and wraps. MMMMmmm...
Josh's first comment on tonight's dinner was, "There should be a Mexican restaurant that only serves Mexican food that's an imitation of Italian food." Additional comments were, "This is good," and, "This is really good." The dish was Mexican Lasagna. It was easy and tasty, and I will add it to my cooking repertoire along with Mexican Spaghetti. Recipes follow.
Mexican Lasagna recipe
1 spray olive oil cooking spray
2 lbs. uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast
30 ounces canned black beans, rinsed and drained
3 cups sour cream
2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese, or Mexican-style cheese blend
8 ounces chopped green chilies, two 4-oz cans
2 teaspoons ground cumin
½ teaspoon black pepper
12 medium corn tortillas, cut into 2-inch strips
1 cup salsa, mild, medium or hot
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat a lasagna pan with cooking spray.
Place chicken in medium saucepan and fill with enough cold water just to cover chicken. Set pan over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes; drain. When chicken is cool enough to handle, cut into 1-inch pieces.
Transfer chicken to a large bowl and add beans, sour cream, 1 cup of shredded cheese, chilies, cumin, and pepper; mix well and set aside.
Arrange half of tortillas in bottom of prepared lasagna pan, overlapping pieces to cover surface. Top tortillas with half of chicken mixture, layer with remaining tortillas and then top with remaining chicken mixture. Sprinkle with remaining cup of cheese.
Bake until filling is bubbly and cheese is melted, about 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing into 12 pieces. Serve with salsa on the side.
Mexican Spaghetti recipe
4 ounce spaghetti
8.75 ounce corn, canned
¾ cup salsa
¼ cup sliced black olives
1 tbsp cilantro
¼ cup cheese
Cook spaghetti 10-12 minutes until tender but still firm
Drain well
Return spaghetti to pan
Drain corn and add to spaghetti
Also add salsa, olives, and cilantro
Toss over low heat until spaghetti is coated and mixture is hot
If desired, sprinkle with 1/4 c cheese
I have been the proud owner of a bike for almost three weeks now. I hadn't owned a bike since I moved out here, when I ditched my old one because I was so afraid of the traffic. Lately, though, I've been going to a spinning class at the gym. It has me totally hooked, so I convinced Josh that we needed bikes. He unearthed his beloved bike from his parents' basement when we were in Anchorage in July, and I found a great one on Craig's List. We've been hitting REI almost weekly for gear (and I definitely need to go back and get some shorts with padding, I've found). Good thing they have a 10% annual rebate on all of your purchases. :)
Two days ago, Josh and I got a bike rack for the car, and today we tested it out on the San Gabriel River Bike Trail. The Kokosing Gap Trail, it ain't, but it had some nice scenery. Next time I will take my camera to get some shots of the mountains. They were particularly lovely today. We've decided that we want to get into good enough shape that we can take the trail all the way to the beach and back--more than 70 miles round trip. I am nowhere near that point right now (today's 25 will leave me pretty sore), but maybe I can get there if I crank up the resistance in my spinning classes and spend some more time outside on my real bike.
One of the best parts of the trip was the barbecue place we found near the trail head. It was FANTASTIC, especially for hungry biker tummies. It was some of the best barbecue I've ever had, and that in spite of the fact that they'd run out of pulled pork (my favorite) by the time we got there. Even with all of the good restaurants in Southern California, good barbecue is hard to come by. This place makes up for all of the bad barbecue joints in the area.
I made a great playlist for my iPod today. Who knew that Phish, Boney M, Daler Mendhi, Flogging Molly, and Manu Chao could go so well together?
This woman understands what the institution of marriage is really for.
My daddy has a blog! Check it out.