"Treat Yourself" December 2021 Exercise Challenge

[sophy1996]

Those molasses cookies look good! My holiday food memory is that my grandmother always had a dish of Andes Mints. I had one or two, here and there, and suddenly the dish was empty!

Twilight Sparkle, hope you feel better soon!

I have 90 minutes, including my usual Pilates class and a couple of walks.

335/1200

 

[EmilyGahr]

45 minutes of HIIT this morning - hardest workout I've done this month!

275/1,000

 

[ljcrochet]

12/6 26
12/7 36
12/8 23

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

Hello, all! I'm back. Still having some joint and lymph node pain, but at least everything else is gone. DD, however, is not as fortunate. This dose hit her hard. She feels worse today than yesterday. The difference in symptoms between the two vaccine brands (for me - DD has had Pfizer all the way through) has been interesting. I had a lot more physical pain and cold/flu-type symptoms with this one (Pfizer) but terrible brain fog with J&J. I think I prefer the brain fog. At least we are now all set for our WDW trip next month, though!

I have jumped back into my usual horse routine and added in a short walk for a combined 150 minutes.

570/2200

 

[Raya]

20 minutes today, walking to and from some errands. At least I think it was 20 minutes, my poor fitbit has gone missing again. Hopefully he'll come before I hop on the treadmill again tomorrow.

103/310 - 33%

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

My mom used to make candy cane cookies at Christmas. She had this book:
View attachment 628678 and you can see the top of one on the far right, about halfway down.

There were two colors of dough, and she would roll them into long skinny pieces and twist them, then shape and dust them with crushed peppermint. I don't even remember if they tasted particularly amazing, but they just seemed so fancy to me as a kid.

Years later, DH bought me a copy of the book, and it was one of the best presents he came up with.

Those molasses cookies look good! My holiday food memory is that my grandmother always had a dish of Andes Mints. I had one or two, here and there, and suddenly the dish was empty!

Twilight Sparkle, hope you feel better soon!

I have 90 minutes, including my usual Pilates class and a couple of walks.

335/1200

I love these stories! Thanks for sharing. sophy1996, I would have been gobbling up those Andes Mints, too! PollyannaMom, my aunt also made those candy cane cookies every year. They were so good - and, yes, very fancy! : )

ETA: Your DH sounds like a great gift-giver, PollyannaMom!

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

Wow! I take sick leave and lots of color changes happen! Maybe I should do that again! Lol!

So many high fives going out to Twilight Sparkle (me), sophy1996, ljcrochet, Raya, and EmilyGahr for moving up to Orange Spice! Great job, all around! Our team is very close to another color change, too.

DD and I made the molasses crackle cookies before the vaccine kicked in. They were super easy to make and turned out delicious warm and straight from the oven. The soft chewiness wore off as they cooled, but we have found that popping them in the microwave for a few seconds brings that quality back without harming the taste. So, so good - especially with my beloved Fortnum & Mason Christmas Tea!!! We definitely recommend making these!

How about a savory treat this time? This next idea comes from Epcot's Japan pavilion (no idea if this is a current offering, though):

Sushi Christmas Tree

CREDIT: COURTESY OF WALT DISNEY WORLD

How cute is this? It's a sushi tree. A sushi tree! The sashimi-grade tuna, salmon, and yellowtail masterpiece is located in the Japan pavilion at EPCOT, but you can easily recreate this at home. You just need a Christmas tree-shaped cookie cutter to mold the rice. We have so many 5-star sushi recipes to get you started. And if you've never made sushi rice before, check out this video with pro trips.

Have any of you ever made sushi at home? I have definitely not, but I admire those that attempt it very much! I'd be happy to be a taste-tester for anyone willing to share! : )

 

[PollyannaMom]

Have any of you ever made sushi at home? I have definitely not...

Neither have I. I know intellectually that not all sushi is raw fish, but it's just too stuck in my head. I have no desire to try it.

I do have a few treadmill minutes since my last post, though:
Mon-12/6 - 15
Tue-12/7 - 25
Wed-12/8 - 20

135/500

 

[Raya]

Awake and ready to run at 6:45 again this morning - don't know what I did to deserve such luck but I'm super grateful for it. 34 minutes ~ 1.7 miles (yep, I'm sllllllooooowww). Managed to get a spot for the Tower of Terror 10 miler yesterday, so I wore my 2013 Tower of Terror race shirt this morning.

I have made sushi at home - with fake crab only, never raw fish of any kind. It's a little messy until you get the hang of it. I'd much rather make my famous peanut butter cookies.

137/310 - 44%

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

95 minutes - horses

665/2200

Keeping my fingers crossed the bad weather we've had predicted all day continues to stay away. We've been so lucky! Those to the west and north of us have been dealing with a tornado that has traveled over 180 miles so far. We've just been very breezy with a few sprinkles.

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

Let's hear it for PollyannaMom and our TEAM for reaching Orange Spice!!! What a great start to the weekend!

Let's keep our treat journey in the World Showcase for now and head over to Canada:

Maple Buche de Noel

CREDIT: COURTESY OF WALT DISNEY WORLD

"One of my favorite things to eat at EPCOT during the holidays is the yule log cake in the Canada pavilion. The France pavilion always has one, too. But the French-Canadian version really leans into that maple reputation with a gingerbread chiffon cake featuring maple mouse and cranberry sauce. If you've never made one and want to try it, check out this Buche de Noel recipe to master the rolling technique. "

Yum! I wish this was still going to be there when I'm at WDW next month. We've had a Buche de Noel from a local bakery before, but I've never made one myself. Does a Buche de Noel make an appearance during your holiday celebrations?

 

[sophy1996]

+95, including time picking up lots of branches around our place for limb recycling day

430/1200

I tried making a buche de noel-like cake once. The rolling is tricky!

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

I have tabulated and have 300 minutes so far this month. Stationary bike, Chloe Ting, Grow with Jo, and walking around Holiday in the Park at Six Flags last night! My DH graduated his Master's program last weekend, so we've been kind of celebrating that and Christmas too! I really like the look of the Christmas treats. The Buche de Noel is something I've never had but that I desperately want to try. That one from Canada looks amazing!!!

300/800

 

[ljcrochet]

12/9 32
12/10 22
12/11 25

I'm hoping to get a peloton ride in today but not sure. Right now the room is spinning which is never a good thing.

 

[Raya]

The link about molasses cookies sent me to the store yesterday - no molasses and no cream cheese for frosting. Boo! At least I walked there so I got 15 minutes in. Something similar happened when we made Buche de Noel last Christmas! It was a delicious failure - we couldn't get half the ingredients so the filling was just pudding, the cake was a yellow cake box mix, and the chocolate frosting never solidified. And yet... all of it got eaten rather quickly. I'm going to try again this year, hopefully with the real ingredients.

41 minutes/2.25 miles this morning. This was my first "real" Tower of Terror 10 miler training run. Went pretty well.

193/310 - 62%

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

170 minutes - horses, walking, growwithjo, obe

835/2200

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

Hip, hip hooray for Elizabeth Smith for turning Orange Spice and for ljcrochet and Raya for being the first to move up to Pastry Purple!!! This weekend's numbers also caused a huge 10% jump for our team! Way to go, people!

Fancy a drink anyone? We're still in Epcot's World Showcase (let's be honest, we could stay here for the whole month and never run out of holiday treats to highlight!), but this time we're in Germany. It's time for my favorite holiday beverage - mulled wine or gluhwein:




In this link, you can find a copycat recipe for the German food booth's gluhwein. It's supposed to be easy and delicious!


My family actually had gluhwein this evening - which is why I thought of posting this tonight. We roasted veggie dogs and made s'mores over our fire pit, and had gluhwein while we sat around the fire. We cheated, though. Ours came pre-spiced from Trader Joe's. Though I did add orange slices, cinnamon sticks, and cloves to make it look festive on the stove. Yum!

Please let me know if you try out the recipe in this post!

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

+95, including time picking up lots of branches around our place for limb recycling day

430/1200

I tried making a buche de noel-like cake once. The rolling is tricky!

Kudos for making one! I am in awe!

Also, we could have contributed to your branch recycling day. My crossed fingers did not keep the tornadoes away. We had a couple come through after midnight. Thankfully very minor damage compared to other areas much, much harder hit, but we had lots of branches down you could have had!

I have tabulated and have 300 minutes so far this month. Stationary bike, Chloe Ting, Grow with Jo, and walking around Holiday in the Park at Six Flags last night! My DH graduated his Master's program last weekend, so we've been kind of celebrating that and Christmas too! I really like the look of the Christmas treats. The Buche de Noel is something I've never had but that I desperately want to try. That one from Canada looks amazing!!!

300/800

That maple cranberry one does look so good!!

Congrats to your DH!!!! What an accomplishment!

12/9 32
12/10 22
12/11 25

I'm hoping to get a peloton ride in today but not sure. Right now the room is spinning which is never a good thing.

I hope the room is no longer spinning for you.

The link about molasses cookies sent me to the store yesterday - no molasses and no cream cheese for frosting. Boo! At least I walked there so I got 15 minutes in. Something similar happened when we made Buche de Noel last Christmas! It was a delicious failure - we couldn't get half the ingredients so the filling was just pudding, the cake was a yellow cake box mix, and the chocolate frosting never solidified. And yet... all of it got eaten rather quickly. I'm going to try again this year, hopefully with the real ingredients.

41 minutes/2.25 miles this morning. This was my first "real" Tower of Terror 10 miler training run. Went pretty well.

193/310 - 62%

Yum! Pudding and yellow cake is always a good thing! Also, thanks for the head's up re: cream cheese. I must make sure I get that on my grocery list asap. We need it for our Christmas Eve Nutella Pochettes tradition. If there's a run on cream cheese at the moment, I need to be sure to find some.

 

[piglet1979]

I am back. Last week was a rough week. I had a small procedure done on Monday so nothing that day. I ended up taking a half day to lay flat because that was better then sitting. Then I was cramping from it the rest of the week. I am going to try to get what I can in this week. Hopefully 60-90 minutes to help catch up on time.

Ok. So my Fitbit is telling me I only have 77 minutes this month so far. All from 1 day. I know this is not right as I have gone for short walks with DH for lunch at least a few times. I will try to get it to start working and report back.

 

[piglet1979]

Ok after synching several times it looks like it is more accurate.

Dec 1 -- 0
Dec 2 -- 0
Dec 3 -- 96
Dec 4 -- 77
Dec 5 -- 0
Dec 6 -- 0
Dec 7 -- 19
Dec 8 -- 13
Dec 9 -- 18
Dec 10 -- 0
Dec 11 -- 19
Dec 12 -- 0

Total -- 242/930

I still feel like I got on the treadmill on the 5th but can't remember for sure. So just going with Fitbit.