Hey guys!
I hope everyone is having a great Thursday!
I’m so frustrated right now because after work I went out searching for biker shorts for spin class…since all I have are running shorts! This is what frustrates me about small town life—there’s NO sports authority! I went to Target…which is tiny here and they didn’t have anything! And then I tried tj maxx and……nope, nothing!!!! So….I went home empty handed. Target didn’t even have any cliff bars (except chocolate chip…) and I’m dying to try the gingerbread and pear strudel ones…every time I see them on a blog I salivate. But none here!! 🙁
Anyways! I’m trying not to be miss negative over here…I guess I’ll just wear my nike running shorts again to spin and next time I go home to Tampa hit up sports authority. This morning I started my busy day with another batch of pumpkin oats (same mix all week–1/2 cup oats, 1 cup silk, 1/3 cup pumpkin, 1 banana, 1 spoonful ab and pom. seeds):
When I got to work at 6:45 I had an iced coffee with skim milk:
And around 9:45, I ate the blueberry z-bar I had packed (I had the apple with my sandwich at lunch)
I LOVE blueberry z-bars!!!!! So happy I bought some in Chicago to take home with me!
Today for lunch I had my new favorite sandwich combo: 3 slices boar’s head turkey, 1 light laughing cow, 2 tbsp spicy hummus and bread and butter pickles on Arnold’s double protein bread:
Unfortunately, I had to eat it while running around at work. I didn’t have even 10 seconds to take a break today and don’t think I sat down for 8 1/2 hours! bah!
When I got home from my failed sports apparel trip, I was STARVING and toasted the other half of my homemade bagel from the other day and smeared 1 tbsp peanut butter and preserves on:
Yikes! Like I said, I didn’t get to sit down, take a break or do ANYTHING all day. I literally was sweating from running so much!!! But….it’s in the job description and is getting me ready for the next two days where I’ll be working a total of 20 hours. Both Friday and Saturday I work from noon until 10 pm, or whenever the last dessert orders come through.
Today I baked 375 rolls:
Plated 50 fruit tart slices:
And baked well over 100 brownies:
I also did a million other random things, getting everything ready for the weekend. I did find time to strain more yogurt though…but was a little disappointed! I brought in a huge 32 oz stoneyfield farm non-fat yogurt tub to strain and I only got about 1 cup of greek yogurt out of it….
It works, but honestly I don’t think its worth it if you want to have a ton of greek yogurt. I’ll probably go back to buying tubs of Oikos next week at the store. 🙁
Tonight I am going to another 6 pm spin class!!! Better get my gym clothes on NOW so I don’t back out!!
Megan
November 13, 2008 at 3:20 pmHave fun at spin class. Love all the baked goods!
Joy
November 13, 2008 at 3:21 pmhey jenna.. i have a quick question for you.. for workouts, is it best to stretch before, after, or both? i’ve heard mixed opinions and was just wondering what you know to be best? thanks! have fun at spin class!
Leah
November 13, 2008 at 3:24 pmI did a spin class tonight and boy am I ever tired!
Enjoy it!
katie s
November 13, 2008 at 3:25 pmJenna- You definitely do NOT need biker shorts for spinning!! I have been spinning for two years now– absolute favorite activity in the world. The only cycling piece of clothing I have bought were the shoes, which I recommend!! But I usually wear pants because shorts get annoying on the bike. Pants + tshirt and a towel… all you need! I really recommend buying cycling shoes though because they make a WORLD of difference; you have such a better ride!!!
jenna
November 13, 2008 at 3:25 pmJoy,
I think you are supposed to stretch both before and after but I’m not a professional so I’m not sure….a personal trainer would your best bet to find out the correct answer!
Oh She Glows
November 13, 2008 at 3:26 pmWOw I don’t know how you do it some days!
You are like the energizer bunny! lol.
Your baking goodies look amazing as usual. I have a question for you- do you ever get the urge to make healthier modifications to the recipes you make while working?
Have fun at spin class!
Jennifer
November 13, 2008 at 3:32 pmJenna…. do you think that nutritional info is the same for strained yogurt as it is the greek yogurt in cups?
I feel your pain about small place… we dont even HAVE a Target here! I want to try those now holiday Cliff bars too! 🙁
arielle
November 13, 2008 at 3:32 pmYeah, I was going to say – you don’t need biker shorts. I wear pants, which I think is much better than shorts as long as they aren’t too huge. Save your money!
Meghann
November 13, 2008 at 3:34 pmIf it makes you feel any better I can not find the seasonal clif bars at our whole foods either 🙁 I really want to try them too!
jenna
November 13, 2008 at 3:35 pmOh She Glows,
You know….not really. I mean, I am into health food (obviously!), but when baking is concerned, when something is good the way it is, I leave it. I prefer to bake with real butter and sugar because it is the way the recipe was meant to taste. Everything is fine in moderation and the stuff made with fake butter or applesauce just doesn’t taste as good (well to me anyways!).
Jennifer,
I honestly don’t know. Your guess is as good as mine! I would think so and I am assuming so…
ashley (sweet & natural)
November 13, 2008 at 3:38 pmThose are the first brownies I’ve seen you make at work! Excitement! I heart brownies (as is clearly evident in my blog’s header :-)) – have you tried one of the ones you made? They look delish!
jenna
November 13, 2008 at 3:40 pmAshley,
No….we need a certain number of them for a function so no one can taste! That’s a GOOD thing about my job—I physically am not allowed to eat most of the stuff I make because we make only the set number that we need to keep food cost down. If I were “allowed” I probably would be a little heavier and snack a little more!! haha! 🙂
Shelby
November 13, 2008 at 3:41 pmWow, your pumpkin oats make me hungry every single time!
Scott (one food guy)
November 13, 2008 at 3:47 pmYou can buy some great cycling shorts online at http://performancebike.com – – they have lots of great shorts on big sales right now. I buy cycling gear from them all the time, they are a very reliable eStore!
Mara
November 13, 2008 at 3:49 pmThose fruit tart slices look delicious… my sister says the same thing about her job! She can’t really eat what she bakes or plates, so thats how she’s so thin. Her staff meal usually includes bacon of some sort though.
Oh, and I was really disappointed! I cut into my first pom yesterday and 3/4 of the seeds were brown! Oh well, I”ll try again!
Jenny
November 13, 2008 at 3:52 pmSorry you can’t find any spin shorts, you know it’s bad when TARGET doesn’t have anything! 🙁
Have fun at spin tonight!!
Runeatrepeat
November 13, 2008 at 4:05 pmThat’s what I figured about making the greek yogurt. At least we know now. I’ll keep buying regular greek yogurt 🙂
caroline
November 13, 2008 at 4:29 pmJoy- (And everybody:)
Here’s a great link my sister sent me the other day about stretching
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/sports/playmagazine/112pewarm.html?_r=1&emc=eta1&oref=slogin
Hope it helps, It really opened my eyes, very interesting article
-Caroline
VeggieGirl
November 13, 2008 at 5:20 pmBAGEL AND BAKED GOOD FOOD PORN ALERT!!! 😀
Have fun tonight!!
Alyssa
November 13, 2008 at 5:24 pmhaha at least you have a Target!! The town I live in doesn’t have a Wal-Mart, Target, or even a chain grocery store… what’s worse: the town I WORK in has ZERO restaurants OR grocery stores. Only one gas station and you HAVE to pay inside, they don’t have credit card machines on the pumps. Funny, huh??
Your food looks delicious, as always! I love those hummus sammies!
Becci
November 13, 2008 at 5:26 pmYou inspired me to try a spinning class at the gym…. it was sooo hard, but I pushed through and DID NOT STOP till it was over! I came across your blog thanks to Kath from KERF, I watched the video of you guys in Chicago, looks like you all had a blast!
Thanks to Roni I have been inspired many times over reading many different blogs, I have my top 3, you made it b/c I love all the interesting pics of the desserts that you make – it doesn’t cost me in calories to drool over your pics! (I just have to make sure I am not hungry 🙂
emily
November 13, 2008 at 5:44 pmwoah woah woah woah woah, wait! Cliff bar makes a gingerbread flavor?!?!? I’m going to have to scour the earth to find these!
Krista (kristaskravings)
November 13, 2008 at 5:52 pmAs usual, you amaze me with all that you do in a day! Love reading your posts, Jenna!
Samantha
November 13, 2008 at 6:01 pmIf you still can’t find the clif bars and are interested let me know…I just picked up several of the pumpkin, gingerbread and pear today. Happy to send them to a fellow blogger. They’re all excellent!
I can’t spin in pants, I get too hot. But check out runningwarehouse.com and see about a pair of compression shorts. They ship 2nd day air for free and returns are free.
Julia (Santa Barbara Dreaming)
November 13, 2008 at 6:04 pmHave fun at spin class tonight!
I know how you feel about living in a small town. We don’t even have a Target or TJ Maxx or Mervins or Kohls or any of that good stuff. boo. I have to make a day trip down to Ventura to find things! Which means I get overly excited every time I step foot into Target. (lame, I know! 🙂 )
Wow you baked a lot of rolls today! looks so perfect…. mmmmmm
Lida
November 13, 2008 at 6:18 pmJenna, you hardly have time to breathe. Being a pastry chef seems so exhausting exercise is almost unnecessary! You must be standing up all day.
Anyways, I’m also looking for these seasonal Clif bars… no idea where to find them. You didn’t see any at our Chicago Whole Foods, did you?
Erica
November 13, 2008 at 6:32 pmI wish we lived closer so you could make me dessert…I am totally craving something sweet and delicious right now and the only thing in my immediate sight is the Schwan’s truck that will be here any minute. 🙁 And I promise I wouldn’t make you work those long hours, we’d eat, talk, eat, talk, eat, talk…..sounds like fun, huh?! Hope you enjoyed spinning!
RhodeyGirl
November 13, 2008 at 6:43 pmHi Jenna-
I think that the reason your yogurt only made a little “greek” yogurt is because the yogurt was nonfat. Try it again with a yogurt that has a little bit of fat in it and you won’t lose so much volume. Good luck!
Grounded Fitness
November 13, 2008 at 6:50 pmsounds like someones hooked on spinning!
I live in seattle, where you can find anything you want, but its all a million dollars. sigh. cant win for losing.
Kelly Turner
http://www.groundedfitness.com
Ashbee
November 13, 2008 at 7:06 pmA year ago I moved from Myrtle Beach to down a dirt road… not that Myrtle Beach was a HUGE town… but we don’t even have a bookstore 🙁 much less a whole foods, sporting goods etc…
Your job looks like so much fun! 🙂
Joy
November 13, 2008 at 7:25 pmthanks a lot jenna and caroline, now i know 🙂
Julie
November 13, 2008 at 7:35 pmI’m going to go out on a limb here and guess your town is so small is doesn’t have an REI, because that is the only place I could find the new seasonal clif bars. Is there one near by?
jenna
November 13, 2008 at 7:53 pmJulie,
I have never even heard of REI! What is it?!
Jess
November 13, 2008 at 11:00 pmI know I already commented on your later post, but I just wanted to let you know that the title of this one inspired my own latest blog post. I come from a super small town too and, now that I don’t live there any more there are things that I miss, but definitely things that I don’t. Unfortunately, some of the things I don’t miss followed me because I moved to Another smallish town, haha. REI is a recreation store- it’s awesome!
Caroline
November 14, 2008 at 12:29 amHi Jenna–I just have a quick question about pomegranate seeds for you. I notice that you’ve been using them a lot in your meals lately. I bought one recently on a whim, but I have NO idea how to prepare it. How do you get the seeds out? Also, what do they taste like? I would appreciate any info you may provide!
runjess
November 14, 2008 at 10:24 amI always get my workout clothes at Target! I’m surprised they didn’t have bike shorts. Sounds like the worst Target in the world.
Elina (Healthy and Sane)
November 14, 2008 at 12:10 pmThose brownies look SO good. Probably not healthy though, heh?