cornmeal muffins and workouts

So I began my vow to cook more "from scratch" by baking cornmeal muffins yesterday morning. I haven't baked anything in years, so before you Bakers out there start laughing, be aware that this was a major step for me.

The choice of cornmeal was the result of a pantry purge yesterday, culminating in the realization that there are items in the pantry that have been sitting there for Quite A While. Nothing obviously perishable, which is why they've been sitting there so long, like the small bag of cornmeal I had bought on whim in some health food store a while back.

To my surprise, we also had some small paper muffin cups in the pantry, so I opted for muffin format. They actually turned out okay! I had four small cornmeal muffins for breakfast, feeling virtuous and overly proud of the fact that I was eating a baked good that didn't come shrink-wrapped. I wanted Jeff to sample some of my muffins when they were fresh-hot from the oven, but after weighing the pros and cons of waking him up just so he could eat muffins, I decided to let him sleep in.

I decided to follow up on my virtuous points by going to the gym on Sunday afternoon, my first real workout of the year. I started slacking off late last year re: working out, mainly because running indoors wasn't nearly as enjoyable as running outside. Allison found the same thing with walking, so we've both resolved to be better in our fitness habits this year, regardless of the weather. Allison might sign up for the Idita Winter Walk Challenge.





My workout starts the minute I head out the door for the gym. Just the brisk walk there and back takes 20 minutes. Yesterday I ran on the treadmill for 20 minutes, did the rowing machine for ten, then weights and abs. Except partway into the rowing machine workout, I hit a wall. It was like all the energy into my entire body suddenly decided to flee all at once, leaving behind silly putty.

Geez, I thought. I'm more out of shape than I thought. I forced myself to keep going, but the last part of the workout was definitely not fun. On the walk home, it felt like my legs were made of lead. And I realized the only thing I had eaten that day so far (it was 4 pm) were those four cornmeal muffins. Probably not enough to sustain a good workout. How dumb could I be?

Jeff and I went to my sister's for dinner, and then I felt worse later that night. I think I might be coming down with Jeff's cold. Compared to the Norwalk Virus, however, I'd much rather take a head cold. Woke up with strange dreams during the night (but not nearly as interesting as Terence Chua's), took some Nyquil, went back to bed.

Poll: recipe organization?

A follow-up from my entry yesterday. How do you cooks store your recipes? The ones not already in cookbooks, that is? On paper or electronic? If you use software specifically for storing recipes, which one? (and do you like it). It's about time I purged/reorganized my cookbooks and loose paper recipe collection, and would appreciate any advice.





Today's Blatherpics:

	Annie, Jeff and Sara play Labyrinth last night. Very cool game! There's also a Junior Labyrinth available in stores. We also played Crazy Eights and Jenga. I always try my hardest to win these games, but Sara (8) and Annie (5) still beat me more often than not. :-)
	I'm amazed at the cool crafts that Sara and Annie come up with on their own.
	Annie is into Nate the Great these days, and read part of one book to Jeff and me last night for her bedtime story. She is sitting on Jeff's back in this photo.