No Bake Garlic Bread

Tonight we had spaghetti for dinner and I had purchased a loaf of wheat french bread yesterday with intent to make garlic bread.

However, the idea of turning on the oven when it was over 100 degrees today was not something I wanted.

So I decided to be creative and see if just putting it outside in the sun would do the trick. (Thanks PBS and Curious George for the idea of using solar energy)

I made my garlic butter, cut the loaf in half, smeared on the butter, put the two halves back together, then wrapped it in tinfoil, placed it on the hood of the car (which was in the sun) and...

20 minutes later we had warm, buttery garlic bread. 

It was not quite crisp on the outside like the oven would have done, but it was warm and the butter had melted into the bread quite nicely.

So if you have a hankering for garlic bread but don't want to turn on the oven, use the SUN!

A Treadmill workout

 

 

My motivation to workout has been hit and miss. 

Some days I am highly motivated but then when I get going I loose it and don't last very long.  Other days I struggle and battle to get going, and if I manage to (which I don't always) then I get going and I get in a really good workout. 

Who knows why and what the solution is. 

I know what your thinking...okay maybe I don't, but a solution IS needed because I LOVE the way I feel when the workout is done and I also don't self deprecate myself for what I eat or for being lazy when I have worked out...even if it is only 10 minutes.
Also is is 5K season around where I live and I like to sign me and my husband up...to keep us motivated to run/stay active.

Well thanks to pinterest and the "www" I have found a couple good treadmill workouts, which made me think that maybe I should share the workouts I create/created.  Not to brag or to show off but maybe because it will help someone else with their humdrum days with working out. Also maybe this way I will write them down and can reuse them and save myself the stress of "creating" a workout.

Most of my treadmill workouts will take/last around 30 minutes...they just kind of tend to work out that way. 

Here is the workout I did today.

Time	Speed	Incline
0-1	7.5	2
1-2	4.0	2
2-4	7.5	2
4-5	4.0	2
5-8	7.7	2
8-9	4.0	2
9-13	7.5	2
13-14	4.0	2
14-19	7.7	1
19-20	4.0	1
20-26	7.5	1
26-27	4.0	1
27-30	8.0	1
Cool Down

Now let me tell you that the treadmill speed can be varied according to what you would normally jog at.  Also you can easily make any workout harder or easier by adjusting the incline.  My personal recommendation is that you always have a 1.0 incline because -it makes up for natural resistance you would have if you ran outside.
This particular workout is supposed to be right around your normal jog pace (i.e. 7.5 is mine)
I like to slowly increase speed so that my jog pace will get faster...someday...at least it is at the end of one day
I did not write in a warm-up, probably because I don't.  Or I seldom do.  I will just use the 1 minute walk period to stretch something if it feels tight. 
I do however (almost always) stretch at the end of my workouts.

If you try it and like it/hate it, leave a comment and let me know.
I will try and post more workouts when I create one or use an old one and think it is worthy of passing along.

Oh and P.S. I have little ones at home and so I tend to use the treadmill to train because it is really hard to get outside that often but when I do I usually just run without much thought or script.

Can't get enough

Lately I can't get enough of photography related learning and practice. It is like a virus that I can't shake. Not that it is bad to learn how to be a better photographer, but when I sit down to look at something photography related (like a tutorial or a photography website), I am finding myself looking for way longer then I my allotted time..."Oh it's dinner time already!"

This past weekend we had a family get together and I was able to pretty much have my camera attached to my hand...it was great! Since being home I feel like I am having withdrawals from taking pictures. My kids are getting tired of the camera and I am lacking other subjects. I guess I will just have to be patient for the clients and strict with my allotted photography browsing time!

Maybe turning some of my old pictures into "Styrofoam canvas prints" or DIY "canvas prints" will help take my mind off taking new pictures!?!