Meal Prep and Weekly Workouts (Vol. 4) -Brunch

I hope all of you enjoyed your holiday, whatever one you do or don't celebrate! I feel like sometimes holiday breaks are busier than normal life between seeing all the family and friends and parties, etc. 

Matt and I didn't have Charlie this year for Christmas morning, so we hosted brunch when she came home at 9am. One of the hardest things about being divorced is sharing her for holidays- I didn't get to see her little footie pajamas come down the stairs to see that Santa came, I didn't get to set out cookies with her the night before, I didn't get to read her "The Night Before Christmas"- it just sucks. I know that my situation is not a lot different than half of the United States these days, and I know it is harder on her even if she doesn't know anything different yet, but it makes me sad that I miss out on the magic of the holiday for children every other year when he has her. Despite the morning not being what I selfishly want, we had a wonderful Christmas and I am enjoying my time home with her not having to rush off at 6:30am. We spent our mornings relaxing, and made pancakes (recipe below) with our new pancake molds in festive shapes, drank hot chocolate and snuggled.  

Weekly Workouts:

Christmas week was a rough week getting workouts in at the gym. I didn't have a lot of time, but something is better than nothing!

Workout 1 (30 min)
Surprisingly the burpees were the worst part of this!
WOD:
4 RFT (rounds for time)
20 Heavy Wall Balls (I did 20# to 10')
20 AKBS @35#
20 Burpees
20 Chest to Bar

Workout 2 (30 minutes)
Strength: 
Hatch Squat Program Week 5 Day 1
Backsquat- 1x8 @65%, 1x6 @75%, 1x4 @85%, 1x4 @90%
Frontsquat- 1x5 @70%, 1x5 @80%, 1x5 @85%, 1x5 @90%

Workout 3 (<30 min)
WOD: 
14 Min AMRAP
7 Chest to Bar
14 AKBS @35#
21 Gobblet Squats @35#


Workout 4 (1 Hour)
WOD:
4 RFT
20 Cal Row
20 Toe to Bar
20 HSPU

WOD 2:
Double Tabata (not alternating)
Deadlifts @50%
Bar Facing Burpees

Strength:
5x1 Deadlifts (85-90%)

Workout 5 (<30 min)
WOD:
3 RFT
33 Backsquats @63#
7 Muscle-ups
10 Hang Power Snatch

Workout 6 (1 Hour)
WOD:
12 Days of Christmas- workout done like the song (i.e.: 1 rope climb...2 muscle ups, 1 rope climb....etc)
Buy-in 359 Jump Rope (double unders count as 2)
1 Rope Climb
2 Muscle Ups
3 Snatches @93#
4 Cleans
5 Burpees
6 Toe to Bar
7 Deadlifts
8 HSPU
9 Cal Row
10 10-m Shuttle Runs
11 Shoulder to Overhead
12 Wall Walks (aka death)

Brunch

We hosted Christmas Brunch so I made two egg dishes, roasted red skin potatoes and a baked french toast that can all be done the night before and cooked the next day. I'm sorry- I did a poor job with taking photos this week!

Homemade Pancakes

Fluffy and so much better than the kind in the box. :) 

-3 Cups All-Purpose Flour

- 2 Tbsp Baking Powder

- 2 Tbsp Sugar

- 2.5 Cups Milk

- 2 Eggs

- 5 Tbsp Butter, melted

- 1 tsp Vanilla

- Pinch of Salt

In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients. Add the milk, eggs and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Grease a skillet or griddle with butter, over medium-high heat, pour 1/4 cup of the batter for each pancake. Flip when bubbles form on the top.

Sausage Egg Bake

-12 Eggs
-2 Cups Milk
-1lb Sausage (ground)
-1 1/2 Cups Frozen Shredded Potatoes (such as Simply Potatoes)
*Optional 3/4 Cup Shredded Cheese*

1. Brown and crumble sausage in a skillet over medium heat. 
2. Grease a 9x13" pan. Sprinkle in the potatoes. Whisk the eggs and milk (cheese if adding). Add the cooked sausage. Pour the eggs/milk over the top. Let it sit in the fridge 2+ hours or overnight.
When you are ready to cook- preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook 45min-1 hour until the eggs are set. 

Spinach and Feta Bake

-12 Eggs
-2 Cups Milk
-1/2 Cup Crumbled Feta Cheese
-12-oz Frozen Spinach, thawed/drained/squeezed
- 1 Red Bell Pepper, finely chopped
- 3 Green onions, white and green parts, chopped
- Salt and pepper
-1 1/2 Cups Frozen Shredded Potatoes (such as Simply Potatoes)

1. In a small skillet over medium heat, with a drizzle of oil, cook the bell pepper until softened. About 5 minutes. 
2. Whisk the milk and eggs. Grease a 9x13" pan. Sprinkle in the potatoes. Top the potatoes with the bell pepper, spinach, feta, onion and salt/pepper. Pour the eggs/milk over the top.  Let it sit in the fridge 2+ hours or overnight.
When you are ready to cook- preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook 45min-1 hour until the eggs are set. 

Orange Upside Down French Toast

This is my Aunt Joyce's recipe. I am not a fan of french toast- but this one always get rave reviews. 

- 1/4 Cup Butter, melted
- 1/3 Cup Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 Orange, zested and juiced (2/3+ Cup Juice)
- 5 Eggs, beaten
- 8 Thick Slices White Bread

1. Pour the melted butter in a 9x13" (or bigger) glass baking dish. Sprinkle the butter with the sugar, cinnamon, and orange zest. 
2. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and orange juice. Dip the bread in the eggs, soaking it well. Arrange the bread on top of the butter-sugar mixture. If there is any of the egg-OJ left after dipping, pour it over the top. Let it sit, in the fridge 2+ hours or overnight. 
3. Bake at 325 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Flip onto a plate. 

Roasted Rosemary Red Skin Potatoes

I don't measure or time this.... but I used one bag of red skin potatoes. Cut them in 1/2" or so chunks. Drizzled olive oil over the top and sprinkled with dried rosemary (I don't have fresh right now), salt and pepper and baked them 45 minutes or so at 450 degrees tossing at the half way point.