How Sweet It Is

There is only one word that can describe tonight’s dinner.

I also find it amusing that I just posted my top 5 favorite workouts yesterday. I could wax poetic about the irony of my posting this under “Fit Bites,” but that would be quite unlike me, now wouldn’t it?

First off, I get the feeling that you guys think that Mr. How Sweet and I eat like this everyday. That is not the case. We actually eat pretty healthy throughout the week. We may have a meal like this once a month, if we’re lucky. But I have no idea why you would think we eat like this daily…

Moving on.

Today I had this overwhelming sense to cook a meal chock-full of comfort food. I literally couldn’t get home fast enough to do it. Cooking like this is my therapy. While we usually eat home-cooked food every weeknight evening, I don’t always cook it that night. Many times, I cook ahead on the weekends. This is a must, since we both have jobs.

But sometimes, I just crave that feeling of putting an entire meal together in the kitchen. A meal that is still hot and goes directly from the stove to your stomach. Maybe it was my maternal instinct that I will probably never have kicking in? I really just wanted to cook for my man tonight.

The problem was I couldn’t decide on what I wanted to make. Something sinful. Something comforting. I knew smashed potatoes had to be involved. So I consulted my favorite comfort-foodie friend and she suggested chicken fried steak.

For hours, I pondered the idea. I have never made chicken fried steak. Yikes. It scared me. In fact, just the name alone kind of disgusts me. I didn’t share that part with her though. But we never ate chicken fried steak growing up. Would I like it?

Finally, I decided.

Chicken fried steak it was. I figured that I probably wouldn’t even like the steak, but would go to town on the mashed potatoes.  I knew Mr. How Sweet would love the steak, so I sucked it up and decided to make it for him. After all, I love cooking for my loved ones. That is where I get the most joy out of cooking.

But then I saw it. And smelled it. And I took a bite…. and I couldn’t stop eating it. This was all mid-cook, by the way.

I made the smashed potatoes. Butter, heavy cream and all.

And then green beans for the token veggies. Not that I had any.

Okay, I had one. But just because it was swimming in a lonely pond of butter and sea salt.

Oh, and she also convinced me to make a gravy.

A cream gravy, nonetheless.

This meal literally changed my life. I didn’t even have a proper plate because I had tasted so many bites by the time Mr. How Sweet got home that I was no longer hungry. That happens all the time. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

And then I died and went to Heaven.

But I came back to life. Because this can’t be the only time I’d ever eat chicken fried steak.

And I think Mr. How Sweet wants to get married again. I haven’t seen him this happy since he found his old Conway Twitty cassette tapes.

(Don’t worry. Only 2 sticks (okay… maybe 3) of butter were harmed in the process of making this meal.)

What workouts are floating your boat right now?

The ones below will always a have a place in my heart.

1. Full body workouts

I love full body workouts because mostly they are quick and dirty. My most common full body workout almost always includes 4 sets of 10 of the following:

walking lunges

squats

pullups

pushups

seated rows

overhead presses

triceps dips

2. HIIT

Bigtime love/hate relationship here. I despite HIIT, but it is over and done with so quickly and leaves me dripping with sweat more than being locked in a room full of green veggies would.

My favorite HIIT combo: 20 seconds of “full out” intervals, 40 seconds of recovery, for 20 minutes.

3. Functional/Plyo Mix

There is also a love/hate relationship here. Ok, more of a hate/hate relationship. Functional workouts are hard and leave me out of breath and feeling helpless. But they also make me feel more in shape that any other workout. I did these kind of workouts 3 days a week when training for a fitness show and was definitely in the best cardiovascular shape of my life.

To me, these kind of workouts include but are not limited to:

burpees

box jumps

squat jumps

mountain climbers

4. A long steady-state cardio session

By long, I mean about 45 minutes. My attention span won’t last any longer. But there is no better stress relief for me other than a good, long cardio workout.

My torture machine of choice: the elliptical.

5. Yoga

It may sound cliche, but I love how yoga makes me feel. It makes me feel at peace and confident, even though I still don’t really feel like I am doing *much.* However, my yoga is probably a joke compared to others.

Are you loving any of the above? Link up below!

No, not eating for two. I know that is what some of you were thinking when you saw the title. Right? No how sweet spawns anytime soon.

That I know of, at least.

This most asked question on this site? How can you bake so much and not eat it all?

Well, it’s not rocket science. I’m here to share some tips with you.

It is no secret that I love sweets. In fact, I must have something sweet everyday after lunch and dinner. Sometimes this is as simple as some fruit with nut butter, but more often it’s a small piece of chocolate or a few tablespoons of chocolate chips.

But I do have to laugh when I see someone say that my blog is all about sweets. I do not consider smoothies (made with fruit or nut butter or dairy), muffins made with whole wheat flour, granolas made with whole grains and dried fruits, or whole wheat pancakes to be “sweets.” I consider these snack foods that are healthier, and I find a way to fit them in. It may not be daily, but if I make a batch of whole wheat muffins, I will be having one with some greek yogurt. Same with granolas. But that is just me.

Also, you can bet you bottom dollar that I am not baking something everyday. I do have a job! And I kinda have a life, but not really.

If you see more than one super-indulgent recipe on this blog per week, I probably had a party or event to go to the weekend before. It is as simple as that. As much as I want you all to believe that I lay around eating bon-bons, it’s just not true. At least not every day.

So here are my thoughts on baking for 2. These come from my own experiences, as I moved out of a house of 5 and into a house of 2. And while Mr. How Sweet has more of an appetite than the 5 of us did growing up combined, he doesn’t use that appetite up on sweets. Unless they taste like chicken.

1. 1/2 (or even 1/4) the ingredients! This is my #1 tip. Almost everything you see on this blog is 1/2 of a recipe, though I will post the full recipe. There are only 2 of us, after all. The only exception is when I make treats on the weekend or am baking for a party/family gathering/entertaining purposes, etc. If it is just for the 2 of us, I always cut the recipe in half, if not more.

I made a half batch of these cookies:

2. Choose wisely. If you are going to bake and 1/2 a recipe, choose an easy one. I have had many mishaps with recipes that I’ve attempted to cut in half, most often in recipes that call for odd buttermilk/vinegar/baking soda combos like red velvet. If you have successfully cut a red velvet cake recipe in half, please come make it for me. Today.

In my opinion, the easiest recipes to cut in half are cookies and muffins.

3. Always measure. This is true for any baking venture, but if you plan on cutting a recipe in half, you must measure (weighing would even be better) all ingredients. If not, expect a screw up. If it works, you are lucky and I need you to do my baking from now on.

4. Determine the “why.” Why do you want to bake? More often than not, I just love to bake because it is relaxing, comforting, reminds me of my grandmother, and fun. I love having my hands in dough and being covered in flour. If you want to bake just for the sake of baking, make a healthier recipe. You still get the same feeling of comfort, without all the calories!

5. Find a substitute. Not a substitute for ingredients, but a substitute for the flavors you are craving. If you haven’t been able to stop thinking about a peanut butter and chocolate combo and are dying to make better-than-crack brownies, but aren’t sure if cutting the recipe in half will work, look elsewhere. Try to find another recipe (like peanut butter and chocolate muffins) that can easily be cut in half. Save the calorie-laden recipe for the weekend when you can share more of it with friends and family. Trust me, being alone in a house with better-than-crack brownies will widen your waistline fast.

6. Check your schedule. If you have a party or gathering coming up on the weekend, save the recipe you really want for that day. In the meantime, bake something that only yields half a dozen cookies, or have fruit for dessert. I won’t lie. I never consider fruit dessert. But if I know I’m going to make something really sinful on Saturday, I can live with fruit for a few days. But I may complain.

7. Make a list. Make a list of the baked goods you really want to try. Determine which recipes can easily be cut in half, and which must be made in full. I have many recipes listed in my favorites, but if I want to bake during the week, I may choose something that is easy (don’t want to have lots of clean up time, even though I always make Mr. How Sweet do it), on the healthier side, and can be cut in half.

8. Pick one a week. I tend to choose one healthier baked good and one indulgent baked good a week. I may bake the healthier one during the week, and save the indulgent one for the weekend. Or I will bake only half of the indulgent one if possible, so we aren’t swimming in chocolate all week. Though that would be dreamy.

So those are my rambling thoughts. Do you ever bake for 2? Have any secret tips you’d like to share?

I think it’s commonly known in the gym world that Monday is the day for new beginnings.

It’s the day when big, burly man try to bench press way to much weight and grunt as loudly as they can.

It’s the day when woman do a 45-minute leg workout to make up for the spoonful of frosting they ate over the weekend.

On Mondays, you won’t find me working chest or legs. At least not most of the time.

Mr. How Sweet had such a tough leg workout on Saturday that he could barely walk.

And he whined and told me a 15-minute-long story about his leg workout. I think I was eating bon-bons or something.

Needless to say, this leg workout is based on Mr. How Sweet’s.

It is what I will be punishing myself with later this week.

Have-fun-walking-up-the-stairs-the-next-day-leg-workout

5 minute warm up

Front squats: 4 x 12

Leg presses: 5 x 8

Walking lunges: 3 x 40 (total)

Deadlifts: 4 x 10

Have fun!

Growing up, my mom made tacos once a week. In fact, I’m pretty sure she still does.

To say I was a little taco-ed out would be an understatement. I love them, but these days I much prefer cheesy enchiladas.

But this past weekend I had a desperate craving for ground beef tacos. I had planned on making them tonight.

And as fate would have it, Heather posted an easy, homemade taco seasoning recipe.

See, I usually just use store-bought seasoning.

I have no shame in admitting that. I’m much more concerned with combining butter and flour than cumin and chili powder.

But I saw her recipe today and knew I had to give it a try.

I’m so glad I did – it is delicious!

After taking that photo, I added approximately 2 more handfuls of cheese and no veggies.

It’s all about balance friends.