Oh man, the 'joys' of being in the second week back from vacation and into your formal workouts. Last week, I felt like I'd been dragged down a gravel road and we even "eased" back into them! Two Walk Away the Pounds, two strength sessions (one free weight and one TRX/yoga) and one Turbo Fire. The first few days, we always feel the bloat will be there forever but by weeks end, we always feel more ourselves but not fast enough for my liking. There's also that weird part of me that likes rebuilding the stamina I lost while on vacation. It's not that we were in a car the whole time and not hiking or walking everywhere but it didn't balance with our whoopie pie ratio. (What? It's Maine's state treat, we felt it our duty to put various flavors to the test.)
Sunday we decided to take an impromptu apple picking trip and make traipsing up and down super long orchard aisles with a heavy arse bag of apples our workout since it was such a perfect fall day. I don't have any pics from the farm but here's our take from the orchard minus the two we ate for dinner that night...
We got Suncrisps, Winesaps, a few Romes and I think we got a Melrose or two. I'm going to use the smaller ones for pie next month so I'll vacuum freeze those with pie spice and they'll be ready to roll when I am. I'm thinking some apple butter is in order as well as maybe some applesauce to go with the stuffed pork chops I want to recreate from our trip. Say it...you know you want to...
Pork chops and applesauuuuce.
(affiliate link) the other night. Am I the only one that thinks Seth MacFarlane kind of looks like Christopher Knight (above)? Never mind. No, actually don't never mind, I did a search and a ton of comp pics came up... |
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See, I knew I wasn't crazy!
Where was I?
Oh yeah, I'm gonna recreate some dishes from the trip.
Actually I already have a few times. Our first morning back, I made blueberry pancakes and used up the rest of the Vermont maple syrup the lady gave us at the home we rented. Then Sunday night, I did my version of a lobster roll using baby langostino since the meat tastes almost the same while saving some money. I have to say my version was what I always thought they should taste like. We're not down with cold meat on a lobster (or crab) roll.
For me, that's always a great thing about vacation as well. If I find dishes I really enjoyed, I'll try to recreate them. If we ordered something that sounded good in theory, I'll improve upon them and make the Mr shake his head in amazement and then tell me how much he'd pay for it if I sold it in a restaurant. :-)
Vacations, especially regional ones, tend to re-spark my culinary fire!
Do vacations inspire you to recreate some of the items you enjoyed once you're home? What are your favorite ways to use apples?
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It has been a bit tough getting back into it but I agree, there is some new vigor you can gain from it too. I enjoyed picking apples. Haven't done that since I was a kid but it's nice to get back to nature and pick your own food for a change.
ReplyDeleteYeah I hate still feeling so arm heavy when doing speedbags and such. Ugh but I will be glad to get the whoopie weight off and move forward. I don't remember the last time I picked apples but I'm sure I could barely reach the bottom fourth of the tree when I did. :-)
DeleteVacations usually just leave me with post-vacation blues, not so much reinvigorated to try new things. I get bogged down with the logistics - laundry, unpacking, errands, mail that pile up, etc.
ReplyDeleteI love apples! I've got apple butter in the fridge, and a batch of applesauce in the making. I've got enough left for one more batch of something - I haven't decided between more applesauce or pie filling. Or maybe just a crisp. Plus I have a recipe for butternut squash and apple soup I want to try.
We used to get the same way. I mean we'd fall into like 3 week depressions and not leave the house when we came back from 2-3 weeks in Hawaii because really if it's not Hawaii, why bother? Then on vacation I saw the sign that said "don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." So I decided I would take the best parts of vacation and try to recreate them at home and it helped. We always rent a place with a washer/dryer too so we come home with clean clothes. Unpack, take 'em upstairs, done! Highly recommended!
DeleteI couldn't believe how many apples we got in that bag so I've got an overload. Apple crisp sounds like a good idea and I can make it for very little calories too so thanks for the reminder!
Love baking apple pies. Will try an apple caramel cheesecake this year. Two words: Shortbread crust.
ReplyDeleteThe Mr would love that!
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