Fast & easy Microwaved Sweet Potato Chips

I have been reallllly lazy in the kitchen lately. But there have been times when I'm passing through the kitchen with a mild growl in my belly, and I've been too impatient to preheat an oven and wait for something to bake. So I have been making home-made sweet potato chips in the microwave and the results have been surprisingly good! I’m sure I wouldn’t end up with any burned chips if I wasn’t trying to multi-task. You never multi-task, do you?



Method:

• Slice off pieces of sweet (or regular) potato with a cheese slicer or mandolin (BE CAREFUL NOT TO CUT YOURSELF!).
• Spray a plate lightly with oil and then spray the chips lightly as well, if desired. Salt optional.
• Cook in microwave on ‘high’ for 60 seconds.
• Stop and turn each chip over and put it on a different spot on the plate (there are hot spots in microwaves, so rearrange them well).
• Cook on high for 45 seconds. Repeat the flipping and rearranging.
• Cook for 30 seconds and keep repeating this process until you have your desired darkness.

I always slice a couple of extra chips as I know that two of them always seem to get burned to a crisp (though the truth is that I eat them anyway).

Don't let the burnt chips scare you ...you can toss them. Plus, I'm sure you don't multitask in the kitchen like I do, right?

This is my dip of choice: a love child of ketchup and chipotle sauce. I have no idea where I got it as it’s years old by now. But one someone I follow on Instagram - can't remember who - suggested mixing chipotle sauce and ketchup for future enjoyment...GENIUS!


Other thoughts for dipping: ranch dressing, tahini, tahini mixed with white balsamic vinegar (one of my favorite home-made salad dressings), blue cheese dressing, blue cheese mixed with balsamic vinegar (SOooo good! Try it!). The list goes on and on for delicious dips for your chips.



Note that even the non-dark chips become crispy if you give them a few minutes to settle on the countertop. These chips are delicious and ready in minutes.



I’m certain that these could be made in the oven under a watchful, non-multitasking, patient eye or two.

Q: What is your favorite microwave recipe? Are you a multi-tasker or a single-tasker? What is your favorite dip or dressing?

South America: the exercise

As my butt melts into the sofa and a small cheeky cat sits on my lap, I realize that I am often more inclined to train hard while on a trip than at home. First of all, I am incredibly well-fueled. Secondly, I enjoy the novelty of new training venues and the challenge to come up with workouts on the fly with limited resources.

This past trip, I did not feel the need to prioritize cardio training although I still did manage to get some in. In the olden days, I would have made cardio non-negotiable on most days, but not any more.  Here were some activities I was able to incorporate on this past (3+week) trip:


Hiking:

Hiking: cardio that's too fun to feel like work (sort of...this was a lung-buster)

Hydration is a must!

I wasn't being lazy, honest. I was avoiding being knocked over by 150 km winds.

Biking: Years ago, I got really into biking: mountain biking and long-distance road riding (centuries etc). So much that we HAD to find bikes anywhere we went on vacation. I guess I got my fill of it, so we don't routinely ride on vacations anymore.  But sometimes, we will seek out rental-shops and have a go as in the good ole days. Easter island was the perfect place for this. We only cycled 40km, but many of those kms were on rocky dirt roads and were much harder than road kms.

This was a sweet hill.

Magical to cycle next to the ancient moai

Sandwiches for a mid-ride refueling stop

Post-ride...Replenishing glycogen stores with fast-digesting carbs: very very important.

Stair-climbing. I love to use stairs as a workout. Depending on my energy levels, I'll either walk or jog up. Then walk down. (Repeat) I've been known to use cruise-ship stair-cases as my workout on the last day of a cruise when they so thoughtlessly close the gym to people who have been hitting the midnight chocolate buffet and would really like to burn some calories. So I keep my eyes peeled for staircases when we travel...

Fancy? No, but it'll do the trick. You just need to ignore the people staring at you like you're insane

Swoon.

Come to mama

This was a stairway to heaven

Resistance Training:

Thanks to Santa Claus bringing me a new suspension trainer, the majority of my training this trip was centered around resistance training.  Basically, with a suspension trainer, you perform simple resistance moves using your body weight and a couple of straps with handles that hang from somewhere above you (tree, door jamb).  You make the exercises easier or harder based on the angle of your body. The caveat: you must find a door frame in which the door closes toward you.

After some research and a chat or two with Girl Hero Jenn, I decided to go with the Jungle Gym XT ($99) rather than the TRX ($160) mainly because the Jungle Gym has the two straps separately and you can make them as wide or narrow as you like (and it's cheaper!)  Also, it seemed easier to use in a door frame, which was to be key in little hotels and B&B bathrooms.

In my hand is the Jungle Gym XT. My 'gym' this day was the world's tiniest bathroom

For a bunch of beginner exercises (but by no means easy), check out this video from the company. There are so many moves that you can do, but honestly I would never attempt some of the advanced exercises where they suggest jumping with your feet in the strap! No, just no!


Some of the moves I do with the Jungle Gym facing the door/straps:

• Deep squat to a "Y" (extend your arms into a "Y" at the top of the move: surprisingly, this can get your heart rate up: great warm up)
• Deep single leg squat
• Double arm Row
• Wide double arm row (push the straps further apart on the door frame)
• Double arm reverse flye
• Bicep curls
• Hamstring curls (lying on floor)
• Glute bridges (lying on floor: bring glutes off floor then release)

Some moves facing away from the door:

• Pushups
• Flyes
• Overhead triceps extension (bend arms each rep)
• Overhead extension (keep arms straight as you bring them down: works your back muscles)
• Knee tucks: straight and to each elbow (for abs, obliques- done with hands on floor)

Facing sideways:

• Side bendy thingies

If I didn't have a suitable door frame (that closed toward me), and to mix things up, I did my hotel room lunge&squat routine (with or without the 'sliding component') as well as some other body-weight strength training moves.


Walking:

Finally, there were many, many days where I just was not in the mood for a 'real' workout, so I stuck to 'incidental' walking as we explored our destinations.

Sometimes, just getting to the hotel was a workout

Rest:

Finally, I probably should officially schedule in more rest to my week, but I usually just go go go until my body says 'enough already'.  Then I'm sure to listen. Quite happily actually:



And speaking of rest, this brings me right back to that cheeky cat on my lap and my inability to get off this couch.  Today is most definitely a rest-day.

Some days there is just zero chance of a workout.

Q: Do you train during vacations? If so, what is a typical workout?

Photos from South America: the Food version

My husband, Derek says that he enjoys being married to me because he never knows when he'll wake up next to a different woman. While it might sound saucy, this comment actually refers to my life-long habit of constantly changing myself: my hobbies, my appearance, exercise du jour, preference in music or a whole host of other interests.


Not surprisingly, my blog follows my this fickle trend. It isn't truly a "Healthy Living Blog" or a day-to-day account of my life. Some days, my blog provides a smoothie recipe. Other days, a protein-spiked fudge muffin. I might have a post about a 16-year old cat or a young cheeky kitty or two. Topics might involve my family (the good and the sad), the many friends I've made or people I continue to meet. It can involve my struggles with trying to balance my simultaneous love of food and exercise and my life-long battle to keep those 90 pounds away forever without driving myself stark-raving mad in the process. I suppose you never really know who you'll get when you read my blog over your morning oatmeal.


Only the most astute of readers will notice that I failed to deliver my post last week. That is because I'm just catching up and re-entering home-life after being fortunate enough to be traveling for nearly a month. In the past, my blog has followed me on trips, but this is really not a travel blog either.  I don't see the point with boring you with my random vacation photos. Rather, I'd want to share some pictures from this trip that you might find interesting, heart-warming or at least amusing.  Here we go...


For Lovers of food and drink:

This is a specialty on Easter Island: a creamy seafood concoction served over fries

Found all over South America: CEVICHE!

There really is a treasure at the end of this rainbow

Another seafood-over-fries meal: think Seafood pasta but with fries instead of noodles

Another typical dish in south America: Huge Seafood Soup

Empanadas! Empanadas everywhere (Meat- or veg-filled pastries)

"Pisco Sours" ...common in Chile & Peru: Pisco is a liquor made from grapes. Then add lime juice, froth of egg white for the pretty foam on top, splash of bitters and simple syrup (or not, as they did for me). Then you can get fancy and add some other juice, such as mango or guava...very tasty!

Penguins are all the rage in Chilean Patagonia

These meringue/chocolate penguins were cute and tasty

Favorite Hobby: Grocery Store Aisle Perusing

Look! Yogurt refills! You reuse your plastic/glass container and buy big bags to refill- GENIUS! (thankfully, they aren't $898 US dollars)

Yuck?

He might not read Spanish, but...hmmm.

Spotted in Argentina. This burger is barftastic.

Fiber-filled "Twig" cereal exists everywhere- even in south America

This very official stamped document confirms not that I have permission to enter a restricted country, but rather than I bought strawberries

Mesmerized in the cookie aisle

Can you believe that this is in a McDonald's in Buenos Aires?

Vegans, look away, this is how they barbeque in Argetine (called Asado)

Lamb Asado, mmmm

Helado/gelatos...totally obligatory on vacation

Ice cream: Best meal of the day (yes, it subbed as lunch on several occasions)

I'll continue this series next time. Topics will include: ideas for exercising on vacation (in addition to my lunge & squat video), cute doggies & other animals and maybe nature/beauty.


Q: What is the best or most memorable food you've eaten on vacation? Is Ice cream 'a must' on vacation (even when it's freezing cold out?)

Sliding Lunge & Squat (Hotel room) routine - video

So just to catch you up from my last post when it was questionable whether or not I'd be able to go on the Patagonian cruise due to the fact that my tummy, bones and I were feeling awful. I went, and by the end of the trip, I was nearly good as new.


My Spanish is usually good enough to make myself understood, but when I make a mistake, I'm often off by a letter or two. On the second day of the cruise, I broke down and saw the ship's doctor. I managed to tell him that my testicles ache (huevos) but luckily he understood that I really meant that my bones (huesos) ache. 

He kiboshed all foods except nutrient-devoid white carbs and diet coke (Honest! Something about potassium!) Needless to say I loved him dearly.  My all-carb diet and some (free!) meds had me sorted out in a day or so, thankfully.


A couple of photos:

More white carbs than I've consumed in the last 10 yrs combined

Not gonna lie: this was fabulous.

Concerned husband looks on as I attempt to self-administer my medicine

A real live glacier- I felt well enough to go ashore and snap this shot...

...but pretty soon I felt a bit green and went back to the ship.

Now, back to the real purpose of this post: to share one of my go-to workouts for when I travel: My Hotel Room Lunge & Squat routine. I know that a lot of people take time off from training when they travel and if this is what works best for you, then that's great! I would feel completely out of sorts if I stopped working out when I travel, so I always make it a priority (if energy levels cooperate, of course!) I often use this routine the day of our departure for home because I all of our clothes are already packed and I know I'll be sitting on a plane for hours. This starts the day off right.

This routine is great:

• If you don't have a hotel gym or you are staying in a small guest house or hostel
• If you don't feel like dealing with your hotel gym
• If you don't even feel like putting on clothes
• If all of your workout clothes are already packed but you want to bang out a quick workout.
• If your sneaks are packed: you don't even need them as you wont be jumping or putting massive amounts of pressure on your feet.
• If the weather is bad and you don't want to go outside: cold/hot/snowy etc.

You can do about 15 or so reps of each exercise and then repeat the series 3-4 times. I work up a sweat, especially with the dynamic version of this workout (ie using a 'slider'). So technically it's cardio and strength all rolled into one workout - love me some multitasking!