car shopping, exercise, and egg muffins

That just about sums up my weekend.

We had to go car shopping Saturday, because Bob's car decided to die last week.  He tried his best to fix it, but it's a bad valve, which means replacing the head.  A huge job to do himself (he hasn't done it before) and expensive to have someone else do (not worth it for the age of the car).  So, we went shopping for a used car.  Since this was unexpected, we can't quite spring for a new car yet.  We ended up getting a PT Cruiser...in red.  PT Cruisers are actually pretty nice. They're roomy in the cabin, have lots of storage space in the back, and get good gas mileage, which Bob needs because he drives 120 miles round trip for work every day.  We hope to pick it up tomorrow night.

My trainer gave me homework to do this weekend.  My session was Friday night and I have another tonight. Last weekend he didn't want me doing anything over the weekend, but I'm not a newbie anymore so it's time to turn up the heat.  My homework this past Wednesday and Saturday was:

• Jogging in place, jumping jacks and mountain climbers, alternated three times for a total of 8 minutes
• Total of 40 walking lunges
• Total of 45 body squats
• Total of 30 squat jumps
• 4 sets of how ever many push-ups I can do (since I can only do about 1/3 of a push-up, it wasn't many)

I did it outside Sunday in the cold and wind (I admit I got lazy Saturday after car shopping).  Not fun, but I survived. I bundled up in my fleece jacket and wore gloves so I could do my push-ups and not have to touch the freezing cold pavement.  I have a really old house, and I don't want to do jumping jacks and jogging in place inside the house. It's a well-built house, but it makes me nervous.

Friday's routine consisted of mostly arm work using kettle bells at different weights. What a workout that was!  I wasn't sore Saturday, though.  Thankfully!

After doing my exercise, I decided to make some egg muffins.  I'd bought some Irish cheddar cheese a couple weeks ago and wanted to use it.  I also had some jalapeno Havarti, which I got at Aldi yesterday. I made 6 with cheddar and 6 with Havarti.  I didn't want to use regular breakfast sausage due to the high calorie content, so I used 3 Morningstar Farms veggie sausage patties. I also didn't want the added grease from regular sausage. I've found since my surgery that I don't have much of a taste for greasy food anymore. I also added a little skim milk this time, which made them fluff up a little and have a softer texture.  I've never added milk, but just decided to this time for some reason.  The nutritional facts for work out like this (per muffin):  130 calories, 8g fat, 2g carbs, 11g protein.

Irish Cheddar Egg Muffins

8 large eggs

1/2 cup skim milk

3 Morningstar Farms Original Sausage Patties, chopped

3 scallions, sliced

1/2 cup onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

Dash black pepper

6 oz. Kerry Gold Skellig Sweet Irish Cheddar, chopped (use whatever cheddar you want)

Preheat the oven to 350.

Spray a frying pan with cooking spray and heat the onions on medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the sausage, scallions and garlic and cook about 1 minute. 

Beat the eggs with the milk, salt and pepper. Add the cooked ingredients to the egg mixture and stir.

Spray a regular 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray.  Spoon the egg mixture into the cups. Sprinkle the tops with cheese. (You could push the cheese down into the mixture, if preferred.  Then you'll have warm nuggets of cheese inside when you cut them open.)

Bake until they are set in the center, about 20 to 25 minutes.  Pop them out of the pan within 10 minutes so they don't stick to the bottom of the pan. 

These taste best when warm from the oven, but they will chill and reheat just fine for at least 4 to 5 days.  Great for freezing, too. If using the microwave to reheat, use 60% power so they don't turn out rubbery or hard around the edges.  100% power might kill them.