chicken saltimbocca

Last summer in Hawaii, my aunt introduced this meal to me and I loved it so much I made her make it again.  After a summer reminiscing about Hawaii I decided to bring back the chicken saltimbocca but drop the breading and add some vegetables.  I made this for friends and they all approved!

1 package thinly sliced chicken breast

(you can also pound out regular breasts if you don't have this option)

black pepper

1 package frozen organic spinach

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2lb proscuitto (or one pre-packaged container)

1/2 cup grated parmesan

2 cans or 1 box low sodium free range chicken broth

1 fresh squeezed lemon

To prepare the spinach, thaw the container and drain any excess water out of it.  Toss in a bowl with 3 tablespoons olive oil and 1 teaspoon minced garlic.

Place a slice of chicken on a flat surface and sprinkle with black pepper.  Top with a slice of proscuitto and add a thin layer of spinach.  While making sure all of the toppings stay, gently begin to roll the chicken and secure with a toothpick.
Heat the olive oil in a large simmer pan, add the chicken rolls and sear each side.  Add chicken broth until the pan is full, bring to a boil, add lemon juice, cover and reduce to medium.  Let simmer for about 8 minutes or until cooked through.  Serve immediately and enjoy!

a working person's workout

The last thing most people want to do after or before a long day at work is expend non-existent energy at the gym.  With post-graduate careers looming (for most of us), we're trying to maintain the same fitness and food habits with less money and less time.  Depending on your personal preference and work schedule, figure out which time of day works best for you.  You could very realistically get a very good workout in by just waking up one hour (or even 45 minutes) earlier.  Because you are in a time crunch, the planning of your days becomes more important.  Determine on Sunday night which days you are going to incorporate cardio and know that because you may only have one hour that your lift will have to either be condensed or involve less rest time between sets (in this case I would design more supersets).  I like to plan out my week based on my schedule and what I have planned.  Here is a sample to get you started:

Monday: legs, abs

Tuesday: shoulders, forearms, stair sprints [short cardio]

Wednesday: chest, cardio circuits

Thursday: back, 25 min. run [long cardio]

Friday (rest day)
Saturday: arms, swim

Sunday (rest day)

Although I have personally never worked out while at work, I know many people who do.  I've heard of people jump-roping, sitting on medicine balls, running in the emergency exit stairwells, and even jumping jacks!

Here's an at-work exercise link:

http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/exercise-at-your-desk

...and one slightly more embarrassing:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/health/workout-at-work/

Keep in mind that if you walk to work and/or to the metro, that's exercising! 

spinach stuffed portobello caps

What better way to top a salad than with prosciutto, feta, and half an avocado?

1 portobella cap, cleaned*

1 cup fresh spinach

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon reduced fat feta

1 piece of proscuitto

To clean the mushroom* take a fork and scrape out the gills with a spoon.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Sautee the spinach and garlic with olive oil in a pan until fully wilted. Place into mushroom cap and sprinkle feta ontop.  Wrap in proscuitto and place onto a lightly greased pan into the oven for approximately 10 minutes.  

I served mine atop a fresh spinach salad with chopped onion and an avocado drizzled with fresh ginger dressing!

legs

Your legs consist of dense muscles, many of which are uniquely large due to the upright posture of our species.  Evolutionary genetics has developed many hypotheses as to why bipedalism is advantageous in humans.  It is likely that this proved to be superior and evolved rather quickly due to many factors such as lower radiation and it's ability to more efficiently cool the body.  Without getting into too much detail for all of you non-science nerds like me, I'll briefly introduce the muscles in your legs, a set of muscles much underrated in the weight room (*cough* you gentlemen).  Below are the main muscle groups targeted while strength training:

Calf Muscles (gastrocnemius and soleus muscles)
Gluteus Maximus
Quadriceps (conventiently named after the four muscles for which it consists of: sartorious, vastus intermedius, vastus lateralis, and vastus medialis muscles)
Abductors/Adductors (the muscles responsible for the movement about the hip joint)
Hamstring muscles (bicep femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus muscles)

Nobody likes leg day so I try and switch it up each time to keep it exciting.  I do this by finding new exercises as well as incorporate cardio by keeping it fast-paced.  This workout uses high reps, not only because I had the time, but if you're going to do legs right you better have a hard time walking afterwards. Enjoy!

warm-up

weighted jump squats

box jumps

superset #1

10x10 squats

10x10 bear squats

100 walking lunges, weighted

superset #2

3x10 rotational box jumps

max split squats

cable kick-backs

ran stairs, for time: 35 minutes


and as spongebob eloquently put it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_FzdmPmc1I