Turn a Baggy T-Shirt Into a Workout Tank!

It seems that this post is better late than never.  To tell the truth, I have been on vacation for the past week, and just recently had a chance to download all of the pictures off my camera so I could finalize this post.  As promised last week, I'll show you how to make the work out tank I wore in my back workout post.  The tank is incredibly easy to make, with new sewing involved!  All you need is a t-shirt that's about 2 sizes too big, scissors, and about 20 minutes of your time.

I'm a t-shirt hoarder.  I have about two drawers filled with t-shirts - ones that fit, and ones that are slightly too big for me but I hold on to them as "sleep shirts."  The thing is, I don't need 25 sleep shirts.  I have shirts from plays I did in high school, shirts from races, and shirts from random trips and concerts.  Most of these shirts, even if they're a small, are too big for me, so I often forgo them for more form fitting shirts when working out.

I believe many of you have seen this tank floating around the Pinterest-sphere.  I decided to finally make two (a white and a dark) for my games at Wildwood.  I wanted something light, comfortable, and that I could completely destroy in the sand, sun, and surf and not have to worry about it.  So I went to the original post and put together some easy tanks in less than 30 min!  Plus, there's no sewing involved!  Here's how it's done:

Cut the collar, sleeves, and bottom hem off of the shirt.  Set that strip of hemming to the side.  Take some more off of the arms and neck to create straps about 2 inches thick.

Cut a v in the back of the shirt.  This is important for the next step.

Take that hem that you set aside and use it to tie the straps together.  This is why you want the V in the back of the shirt, it'll help keep the shirt from bunching when you tie the straps together.  Wrap the string down the straps, back up, and then tie the loose ends together.

That's it!!  This is such an easy way to turn that baggy t-shirt you'll never wear into a fashionable tank.  I love how you wrap the shirt around the straps in the back - it looks so cool and you don't have to sew anything!  Pair them with some yoga pants or running shorts and you're good to go!

2 comment(s)

Posted by Ali B at 5:08 PM

How-to Make the Perfect Hot Dog!

This may be cringe inducing to some of you, but I love hot dogs.  When I was younger, I'd only have ketchup on my hot dogs, and my dad would encourage us to eat them by writing my brother's and my name on the hot dogs in ketchup.  Very cute.  Nowadays, I'll put almost anything on my hot dogs.  I've been dying to go to one of those hot dog shacks with all of the crazy toppings because I think I would just go WILD.  Absolutely wild.  In fact, I'm going to Wildwood this weekend for the annual Beach Ultimate Tournament and will be making a stop at this restaurant that I saw on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.  I'm already having trouble deciding what I'm going to get!

Alright, so this is what you need to do.  First, boil your hot dog in water, just to get it warm.

Then drain the pan, throw in some butter, and fry the dog until it's a deep red color.  This gets the outside really crispy and the inside stays juicy.  So good.  I recommend the Kirkland brand hot dogs, even if you have to buy 50 of them at a time from Costco.  

I love mine with sauerkraut and a pickle.  Yumm.  Also here's another little tip - put your toppings on the bottom.  I know, a little backwards, but it'll keep your toppings in place.  And be sure to have a fork handy for those pieces that do get away.

What are some of your favorite hot dog toppings?

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Posted by Ali B at 8:47 PM

How-to Make Decorative Cookie Bags

After posting about my funfetti cookies and my Desserts for the Deserving experience, I received a few inquires about how I was going to ship these cookies.  I shared how I shipped a batch of decorated sugar cookies here, but because the funfetti sugar cookies are hardier than decorated sugar cookies, I came up with an easier way to ship the cookies without using so much packaging.  All you'll need are packing peanuts, a large box, packing tape, scissors, ribbons, and cellophane bags.

Don't have cellophane bags?  That's exactly what happened to me the other day....

I was gathering my materials to ship my funfetti sugar cookies to my Desserts for the Deserving nominee when I realized I was missing the bags!  I had the box, packing peanuts, tape, scissors, ribbons - everything I needed to pack and ship these cookies except for the cellophane bags!  My mom suggested just using regular sandwich bags, but I wanted to dress the cookies up a bit since they were being sent as a gift.  Plus, there was no way I was going to the store for one thing.  So, I improvised.

I grabbed some of the extra long sandwich bags

Cut off the tops

Placed the cookies inside

And tied them up with some pretty ribbon!  Voila!

I then put a single layer of packing peanuts on the bottom of the box, spaced out my bags on top, and put extra packing peanuts in between and on top of the bags.  If you're shipping regular cookies, like sugar, oatmeal, or chocolate chip cookies, this is a simple and pretty way to package them.  If you're shipping decorated sugar cookies, however, I would use the link above to make sure your designs don't get ruined!

They may not be as pretty as regular cellophane bags, but they still get the job done.  It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to keep a roll of cellophane at home either, since you can make bags and gift wraps of all sizes!  Hope this little trick helps!  What tips and tricks do you have for shipping?

4 comment(s)

Posted by Ali B at 7:55 PM

How-to Track Your Workouts

I haven't posted a workout post in a while, so I wanted to share something that seems second nature to me, but could vastly improve your workouts should you not do this already.

I keep track of my workouts in a Google Spreadsheet.  Let me explain...

(Note: Please click on the image in order to see a larger view)

When I open my Google spreadsheet, this is what I see (going across the columns): the date, the planned workout, how I felt before the workout, details of the workout itself, and how I felt/recovered after the workout. 

Doing something as simple as organizing my workouts has improved my workouts immensely.  Here's why:

I can see how well I've done

When I complete a run, sprint workout, gym workout, etc., I make sure to compare my results to the last time I completed that same workout.  For example, after completing a three mile run, I would go back through my log and search for my last 3 mile run.  Next to my current time, I would mark whether this time was longer or shorter than my last 3 mile run.  If it's shorter, it boosts my confidence, and I can start to judge when I can up my mileage.  If it's longer, it kicks my butt into gear, and I can move forward with an adjusted training plan. 

I can see what needs to be done

One of my biggest mistakes when I first started working out is I didn't rotate my workouts.  For example, I would spend the entire week doing 3 mile runs because I wanted to increase my endurance, and yet I wouldn't see any results.  I realized I needed to incorporate sprints, strength training, and cross training into my workouts in order to prevent my body from falling into muscle repetition (doing the same thing over and over) and becoming fatigued.  So, I now will rotate between long runs, sprints, and biking.  When I go to the gym, I rotate between leg, arm, back, and core workouts.  And when I sprint, I rotate between intervals, ladders, and regular sprints.  This would be almost impossible to keep track of if I didn't have this spreadsheet handy.  I can see what needs to be done next in order to vary my workouts and improve my athleticism.  

I can prevent injuries

If you look closely, you can see I injured my IT band.  This happened in our first ultimate tournament, when I played almost every single point for 8 games.  IT band injuries are also known as "runner's knee," and the most common cause is overuse.  After looking up some IT band strengthening exercises, I looked where I could incorporate them into my current workouts.  This will hopefully prevent any further injury, and many of my workouts are categorized under "cross training," since I'm aiming to keep it easy (and also because I'm on vacation...).  When I begin running and sprinting again, I can mark how my IT band felt during and after my workout in this chart, and this will help me decide whether I should scale back or keep going with my current workout plan.  Also, if I notice that one muscle is more sore than usual after a workout, I can keep an eye on that in order to prevent an injury in the future.  And should I become injured,  I can look back and see where it started in order to help better diagnose the issue (which ultimately should be done by a doctor, I just like to have an idea of what's going on with me).  

The share options


This is more why I choose using Google Docs instead of a regular spreadsheet.  If you decided to make a workout plan with someone else, you can share your spreadsheet with them, as long as they have a Google account.  So, if you and a friend are getting in shape for summer together, the two of you can have the same exact workouts, but keep your information on separate sheets.  When I shared this document with someone, it was an extra motivator to complete the workouts because I felt accountable to someone else.  Plus, if you're any bit competitive like myself, you're going to be checking your friend's progress and spur yourself to keep up with him/her, or continue doing better ;)


I can't imagine what my workout plan would look like if I didn't keep track of it.  It'll improve your workout routine exponentially, and you can see what needs to be done, how far you've come, and how you can help prevent injuries.  I have found that this little technique has vastly improved my workouts, and I hope you set up your own!

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Posted by Ali B at 12:07 PM

How-to Make the Perfect Waffles (recipe included!)

This is another one of those family recipes (like the banana bread) that I've been debating with myself whether or not to post it.  This is one of those super secret family recipes that I was thinking of keeping to myself for when I get famous from the blog and write a cookbook and open a restaurant and people will be trying to figure out the secret recipe to my amazing waffles.

Yeah.  That's not going to happen.  So I'd figured I'd share this recipe because these waffles are amazing.

I think waffles are incredibly underrated.  They're so warm and comforting; it's a really nice treat to be able to pull one out of the freezer and heat it up before work.  Or, you can throw some fruit and whipped cream on it and call it dessert!

Here are some tips on making the perfect waffles (pay special attention to number 2):

• Sift your dry ingredients as if you're making any floured dessert. 
• Separate the egg whites from the yolks.  Whip the whites until they become fluffy and fold them in at the end.  THIS will give you fluffy waffles. 
• Don't let the waffle iron get too hot - and make sure you spray it!  With some irons, you can set the temperature.  Make sure it doesn't get too hot, you want your waffles  to cook evenly. 
• Make the entire batch at once!  Waffles are easier to freeze when they're whole rather than keeping the batter in the refrigerator.  
• Take care of your waffle iron.  I've even cleaned mine with an old, soft toothbrush.  You want to make sure all of those trenches in the waffle iron pan are kept clean, or else you're going to get a very unwelcome, burnt taste in your mouth next time you make waffles!

This is a recipe that belongs in your family's cookbook.  These waffles are wonderful on their own or with a little syrup or butter; I don't ever feel the need to mix anything in to make the recipe better.  How do you like your waffles? 

Waffles

Yield: about 10 waffles, depending on size of waffle iron

Prep Time: 20 min

Bake Time: 5 min

Ingredients

-     2 ¼ c flour

-     ½ tsp salt

-     2 tsp baking powder

-     2 tbsp sugar

-     3 eggs

-     2/3 c vegetable oil

-     1 ½ c milk

Directions

Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a large bowl.  Set aside.

Separate your egg whites and egg yolks.  Add the vegetable oil and milk to the egg yolks.  Beat well and then add to the dry ingredients.  Beat to combine.

Whip your egg whites until fluffy and then fold in to your waffle batter.  Heat and grease your waffle iron according to manufacturer’s instructions.  Pour the waffle batter into the center of the waffle iron and cook for about 5 minutes each.  Serve immediately or freeze to serve later. 

10 comment(s)

Posted by Ali B at 10:42 AM

How-To Plan a Dinner Party

Another new and exciting adventure in 2012 is I got to plan a dinner party!  It was so much fun and I thought I would take the time to share my experience to make hosting your own dinner party a little smoother and enjoyable for you - the host(ess).

1. Pick a date (2 - 3 weeks in advance)

Pick a date that works for you and most (if not all) of your guests.  Send invitations through Facebook, Evite, email, or good old fashioned snail mail (people still do that, right?).

2. Pick a theme

Every dinner party should have a theme.  This will help you narrow down recipes for your menu and pick out decorations.  Plus themes make everything so much more fun.  Because the dinner party was the same day and time as a Saints/Lions game, we decided to do a classy tailgate party.  Basically, we wanted to take typical tailgate food and turn it into dinner party food.

3. Pick a menu - 1 week in advance

Once we had the theme, I started to look for recipes that would follow our tailgate party theme.  For appetizers, I wanted to set up a bunch of dips (veggie dip, hummus, some type of salsa) with veggies and chips.  For the sides, I found a cucumber salad recipe from Ina Garten and we decided to make cornbread.  I loved the cucumber salad recipe because it reminded me of a lighter and somewhat classier potato salad. And cornbread is just flat out delicious, especially the Trader Joe's mix with actual kernels of corn and honey.  We then decided the entree would be a DIY burger bar with some classy fixings and BBQ chicken with a homemade BBQ sauce for the people who didn't want red meat.

4. Plan out your shopping and cooking - 3 days in advance

You should be shopping for all of your ingredients at least three days before the event.  Grab all of your recipes and write out what ingredients you'll need for each.  Add together any ingredients that overlap and cross out ingredients you have in your fridge.  Don't go overboard with the ingredients either.  If there's something in your recipe that seems a little out there, find out if there's something else you can substitute for.

Once you have all of your ingredients, plan out when you should do the cooking.  Look at the prep and bake times for each item and see if there are times and temperatures that overlap so you can cook 2 things at once or prep one thing while something else is cooking/marinating.  We decided to cook the chicken ahead of time because that takes much longer than burgers, which could be cooked up and served hot right before the party.  Everything else was either made the day before or that morning (but I do not recommend saving a lot of stuff for the morning of!).

5. Set up your space

Leave plenty of time to do this as well.  Write out or print up tags for each of your dishes so that people know what they're eating.  If a guest at your party has a known allergy, you can also put allergens on the tags.  Also, set up your space in a way that pulls people into the party.  Since we wanted people to gravitate towards the living room, we set up all of the appetizers in there.  Once the dinner was ready, we moved the burgers and chicken from the kitchen to the dining room but left the dips for people to snack on.

6. Have fun with it!

Set some time aside so you can mingle with guests while still making sure everyone is good on food and drinks.  This is your party, make sure you leave yourself enough time to enjoy it.  And don't worry if things don't go as planned, chances are your guests will still have a great time as long as there's stuff to drink and eat and good company to be had :)

3 comment(s)

Posted by Ali B at 9:00 PM

How-to Use the Treadmill Effectively

I didn't make any resolutions for this year.  I have some goals for 2012, like finding a teaching job and continuing to develop myself as a professional, but I haven't set any strict resolutions.  When I was developing a workout plan for myself, I noticed that when I had told myself I needed to do this workout on this exact day I would put a lot of pressure on myself to complete this workout even if I had other stuff going on.  Instead of doing the workout at a later time I would do an abbreviated workout instead and in the end, I would feel like I hadn't really accomplished anything.  And if I had to miss the workout for one reason or another, I'd later feel really down on myself and beat myself up about it.  There was a time when I developed a really negative attitude towards completing my workouts and for a while I fell off the bandwagon.

However, when I had an idea for what I would do for my next workout and told myself to do it at my convenience, I started working out more.  When I felt like the workout wasn't looming over my head, I was more excited to do it.  I was working out and running for the joy of doing so, not because it was glaring at me from my calendar.  I feel the same goes for New Year's resolutions.  If you force yourself to not eat sweets or if you drag yourself to the gym every morning, you're going to be doing these things because you have to, not because you find joy in them.  When I set off on this journey into a new chapter of my life I told myself to do things because I enjoyed them, not because I had to.  It makes navigating your quarter life crisis (or any other part of your life for that matter) much more enjoyable.

Due to New Year's resolutions and the colder temperatures, the number of people at my gym has tripled in size.  Over the past few weeks, I've noticed that many people don't use the treadmill safely or use it to its full potential.  For this installation of the winter workout series, I want to give you a few tips to make your treadmill workout both productive and safe.

Please note that these guidelines are based on personal observations and experiences and articles I have read from sources such as NYRR, NYCruns, and Runner's World.  I am not a trained professional and therefore you should always speak to your doctor if you are concerned about starting a new exercise regiment.  If at any point you feel short of breath or dizzy while on the treadmill slow your pace down to a brisk walk and speak to a doctor.  

1. Warm up and cool down

This is incredibly important and it's something that most people do not do when they use the treadmill.    The only walking I've done before getting on the treadmill is the walk across the parking lot. So when I get on the treadmill, I like to start at a normal-paced walk, and then work my way up to a jog.  Minute by minute, I go from a walk, to a brisk walk, to a slow jog, to a quicker jog.  You should do this for about 8 - 10 minutes so your muscles get warmed up and ready for your run.

The same goes for the cool down.  Running on a treadmill messes with your perception because the ground is moving underneath you while you're staying in place.  The blood in your body is also rushing around at a much faster rate since your muscles, heart, and lungs were in need of more oxygen.  The first time I used a treadmill, I decided I was done with my run, turned off the machine, and stepped off.  I pretty much fell over once my brain realized the ground wasn't moving underneath me anymore.  Take at least 5 minutes to walk on the treadmill and allow your brain and your body to adjust to your surroundings.


2. Don't over do it

The treadmill is unforgiving.  The track on the treadmill doesn't absorb a lot of impact, so repeated running on the treadmill can do damage to your shins, ankles, and knees.  I like to do 3 days on the treadmill followed by 1 day on the bike.


3. Use the incline

Running on the treadmill is artificial in the sense that you're not running with wind resistance or on uneven territory.  In fact, running on a flat treadmill is like running slightly downhill.  Try raising the incline on the treadmill to level 2 or 3 before you up your speed.  You'll get a more efficient workout that mimics running outside on ground that is never completely flat.  Use this conversion chart to figure out your pace in terms of your speed and the incline.


4. Focus on time, not on distance

The distance you run on the treadmill may not always be accurate, especially if your gym doesn't calibrate the machines often.  Focus on how long you've run in terms of minutes rather than miles.


5. Keep your back straight

Because the conveyer belt is constantly pulling you backwards, your posture can be compromised while you're running on the treadmill.  Make sure your hips are lined up with the rest of your torso (in other words, don't let your butt stick out!).


Running on the treadmill can have many advantages.  It keeps you out of the cold weather, mimics outdoor running more than any other cardio machine, and can up your mental game (honestly, there is nothing more boring than running on a treadmill - keeping at it for 30 minutes is a workout for your body and your mind!).  On the other hand, it can negatively affect your posture and stride and can lead to injury if you're not careful.  Just follow these guidelines, though, and you can get in a great run without having to brave the cold.

8 comment(s)

Posted by Ali B at 9:25 PM

How to Ship Cookies

I was so excited to help with the Fund for Jennie project that I didn't really put too much thought into the logistics.  I have baked and decorated about one hundred sugar cookies, so I knew that part wouldn't be difficult.  But once someone bid on my cookies and won, I realized I had neglected to plan one of the most important components of this whole project: getting the cookies to the winner.

I went to the cookie queen herself, Bridget from Bake at 350, to figure out how she ships her cookies to her fans.  As if she was reading my thoughts, I found a video on her University of Cookie site that laid out exactly how to ship cookies.  Well, it wasn't simply shipping cookies, it's packaging them in a way to make sure they arrive looking as beautifully as they did when you sent them off.  Her post was so helpful that I wanted to share my own experience with shipping cookies and provide the best tips possible to make sure your cookies arrive in one piece.

The first thing you must do is protect the individual cookie.  Each cookie should be individually wrapped in cellophane bags.  Not only does this protect the cookie, but it makes for a really beautiful presentation.  If your cookies are simply flooded and do not have any detail on them, you may be able to fit two cookies in one bag.  But because I was making these cookies for someone else, I wanted to make sure each cookie was protected.

Box #1: 8-1/2 in x 11 in document box.  I picked up this box (along with all of my other shipping materials) at my local Staples.  It's a clean, neat box that can fit a good number of cookies.  Assemble your 8-1/2 x 11 in box and line it with a sheet of bubble wrap.  Lay your bags of cookies in a single layer along the bottom of the box.  Cover with a second sheet of bubble wrap.  Lay another layer of cookies on top of the bubble wrap and cover with a third piece of bubble wrap.  I was able to fit 1 dozen cookies in this one document box, but you may be able to fit more or less depending on the size of your cookie and whether or not you wrapped them individually.

Box #2: 12 in x 12 in x 12 in shipping box.  The dimensions of your shipping box may be different from the one I used.  To determine what size shipping box you'll need, first figure out how many cookies you can fit into your document box.  I knew I could fit 12 cookies into each document box, therefore I would need 2 document boxes to ship my 24 cookies.  Assemble your shipping box and line the bottom with packing peanuts or (if you're trying to be environmentally conscious) crumpled up newspaper.  Place the first document box in the shipping box, add another layer of padding, then place the second document box in the shipping box, followed by another layer of padding.  Repeat this process until all of your cookies are packed up.

Quadruple check the address of the recipient, cover it with packing tape, tape up all of the sides and corners of the shipping box, and stamp it with a "FRAGILE" stamp.  And there you go!  The whole packaging process took me less than an hour; the most time consuming part was packaging each individual cookie and tying them off with a ribbon.  You put a lot of time and effort into these cookies, you should put the same amount of time and effort into making sure they get to their destination safely.  Good luck!

1 comment(s)

Posted by Ali B at 11:12 PM