Yesterday's ZWOW; Happy Hour at Home

Have you had any exercise today? If not, here's a great total body workout you can complete in less than 30 minutes:

Just be mindful of your knees :/ I did simple weighted lunges on each side rather than jump lunges.

My workout for today included cleaning the house and making some delicious apps for a happy at home. 

Prepping another Barefoot Contessa recipe:

Before:

After:

 

Todd and I are going to spend the rest of the evening relaxing at home, but tomorrow will be a busy day filled with research, yoga, and cardio. Have a great rest of the week, bloggies :)

Herb & Lemon Buttered Popcorn

From Big Girls, Small Kitchen (GREAT blog!), makes 1 big bowl

1/4 cup olive oil

3/4 cups popcorn kernels

6 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon

zest of 1 lemon

1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/3 cup chopped almonds 

Place a large, heavy pan with a lid on medium heat. Add the olive oil and 3 kernels. When they pop, add the rest of the kernels. Shake the pan to distribute, then cover it. Cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until you stop hearing kernels pop more than once every five seconds or so. Turn off the heat and leave the cover on for another 2-3 minutes, until all of the kernels have popped. Transfer the popcorn to a large bowl.

While the kernels are popping, preheat the oven to 300°F degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a small frying pan over medium heat. Keep cooking it, stirring occasionally, until it is very slightly golden. Pour into a bowl and add the lemon juice and zest, the pepper, salt, and spices (and a couple tablespoons Parmesan cheese??). Mix well, then drizzle this over the popcorn in the bowl. Add almonds and use your hands to mix the popcorn well, trying to get the butter mixture spread around as best as possible. Taste for salt, adding more as needed.

Pour the popcorn onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake until the popcorn has dried out slightly, about 6-8 minutes.

Serve warm or room temperature. If you make the popcorn in advance, cool it completely before storing it in an airtight container.

Barefoot Contessa's Hummus (my go-to hummus recipe)

4 garlic cloves

2 cups canned chickpeas, drained, liquid reserved 

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 

1/3 cup tahini (sesame paste) 

6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons) 

2 tablespoons water or liquid from the chickpeas

8 dashes hot sauce 

Turn on the food processor fitted with the steel blade and drop the garlic down the feed tube; process until it's minced. Add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor and process until the hummus is coarsely pureed. Taste, for seasoning, and serve chilled or at room temperature.  (I served with hot house cucumber and carrots).

Izze Sparkling Cocktail

From Tasteinspired, Serves 1

Fill a short glass with ice. Add 2 ounces of vodka. Top glass off with blackberry-flavored Izze. Squeeze in a lime and drop in glass. Stir and enjoy!

Parsley, mint, basil, and chives from Adam and Erica.  Todd is a major stud at keeping these plants alive.