Have I mentioned before that I love school vacation week? I love it because Mal and I do fun things together like make Burpees t-shirts for the first CrossFit Open WOD!
Burpees stink, but homemade t-shirts are fun!
Ok, we’re are super nerds, but our special Burpees shirts motivated us to bang out some serious reps in 7 minutes. My freak-of-nature husband did 119 Burpees; I did 93. There was a little miscommunication with my counting partner (Mal), so now I’m gunning to hit 100 on Sunday. Let’s do this!! RAWR!
Dinner
At home, dinner was waiting for us⦠well, sort of. We just needed to cook it.
My friends from The Laughing Cow sent me a special package with almost all of the ingredients (a bag of whole wheat rotoni, Light Creamy Swiss Laughing Cow Cheese, and a bag of reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese) to make their Mac n’ Cheese, so allĀ I had to do was cook the pasta and mix the ingredients together.
The Laughing Cow Mac n’ Cheese
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 8 ounces uncooked whole wheat rotini noodles
- 3 wedges of The Laughing Cow Light Creamy Swiss Cheese
- 3/4 cup reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup 1% milk
- 2 tablespoons butter
- Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
- Cook the rotini noodles according to package directions.
- Drain excess water, but not until completely dry. Unwrap The Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedges and add along with reduced-fat cheddar cheese, milk, butter, salt, pepper, and stir.
Per serving: 390 calories, 14g fat, 862 sodium, 50g carbohydrates, 0g f, 6g sugar, 19g protein
The Mac ‘n Cheese was really tasty, but what I like most about this recipe is how easy it is to make. I started the pasta before I got into the shower, so when I got out, it was finished cooking. Then, I just mixed all of the ingredients together right in the pot with the pasta. It seriously came together in no time at allāāperfect for a I’m-hungry-but-don’t-want-to-cook weeknight meal!
Dinner also included a bunch of sweet potato wedges with ketchup.
And after dinner: Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies! I feel a zit coming on just typing that! (Too much sugar wreaks havoc on my skin, which is another reason why I’ve cut back on the treats in my diet.)
Mal nicely asked me if I would make āunhealthyāĀ cookies for him last night. I was sort of in the mood for cookies too, so I whipped up a batch.
Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 1 dozen
Ingredients:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips/chunks
- Pinch of salt
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350*F.
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well until batter is blended evenly.
- Roll batter into 1-inch balls and place on a greased baking sheet.
- Bake cookies for approximately 12-15 minutes.
- Remove cookies from baking sheet and allow to cool on wire rack.
- Eat and enjoy!
We didn’t have any regular sugar on hand, so I used powdered instead, which gave the cookies a dense, grainy texture and really sweet flavor. Mal loved themāāhe said they tasted like sugar cookies with chocolate chips in them. I liked them a lot too and ate two.
Be back soon with a fun breakfast post!
77 Comments
Burpees are a great cardio exercise, but they do kinda suck ass.
I took kickboxing classes for a bit and we had to do them all the time. It was brutal.
I almost shot hot tea out of my nose on the burpee note! I feel the same!
I REEEEEALLY want that mac and cheese and a cookie…or two…or five.
Wow, you guys seriously rocked the burpee challenge!
I love one pot meals, they make life so much easier!
And great job on the burpees š
You guys are hilarious. And awesome. Way to set a new goal for yourself with 100! Also, is there a height requirement for the jump at the end for it to count? I know my jumps get crappier the more I do them.
@Emily: Yep, 6 inches, and I was using a hanging single piece of tape to tap with both of my hands, which is why there was some confusion with the counting. I KNOW I can do more!
Wow, that’s a lot of burpees!!! I think I would be able to do, like, ten. lol
I don’t mind burpees. Wall balls are what kills me.
Yea, those are rough too!
@Nancy: SO true. I hate wallballs.
Ha ha! Love the quote of the day. I actually do love burpees! They are super hard but fun! I know, I’m really odd! š
That mac and cheese looks delicious! Plus it looks really simple to make too. Thanks for the recipe š
The cookies look so good!!! I love burpees, but I used to have them when I started exercising!
Congratz on doin all those burpees š
wow, 93 burpees are amazing!! I want to try that mac and cheese! I love how easy it is. Easy recipes mean that I’m more likely to make them haha. Hope you have a great day Tina š
oh gosh, I couldn’t imagine trying to do as many burpees as possible for 7 whole minutes! I feel like that would be the longest 7 minutes of my life… Kudos to you! Awesome job!
I don’t think I have ever done a “burpee” before, but doing 100 reps of anything must be draining! That mac and cheese looks delishhhhhhh! Enjoy your last few days of Feb vacay with Mal! š
Was this picture PRE or POST burpees? Are you sure your shirt accurately describes your feelings? š
@jennyv: Pre-Burpees! I was actually worried that the drawn-on heart might get messed up with sweat and jumping up and down, so we snapped the pic before! š
97! Damn girl!! That’s impressive!
I’ve made healthified mac n’ cheese before by just stirring a wedge of laughing cow and a handful of spinach into hot pasta and stirring it until the cheese melted and the spinach wilted. It is so so so so SO simple but delicious!!
okay, silly question that I couldn’t find the answer to last night when I did my own mini WOD…burpees: do they involve a pushup or just flopping to the ground? I saw it both ways. Pushups are way harder for me, so I think it’d be easier if I just had to get my chest and hips to the ground and back up.
@Charliss: It’s more of a flop on the ground, but you need to push yourself up (and jump) after each one, so they’re tough!
They’re definitely tough – no doubt about that! I can’t imagine doing 97… 30 (with squats and situps intermixed) was enough for me! Just wanted to know so I can do them right next time around.
Gosh I was feelin pretty impressed with my 62 burpees…!
They were pretty tough! I know I can get more though. Practice! Practice! Practice!
You and your husband did awesome!
I just recently discovered the Laughing Cow and love it on a salad because it gives such a creamy texture! I also heard they have cream cheese wedges now that I would love to pick up! Unfortunately I havent seen them in any stores yet but my goodness, cinnamon cream cheese?! sign me up!
Wowāāthose cookies look reeeeally good.
I made butternut mac & cheese the other night and loved it. It’s got me on a roll of wanting to try other mac & cheese recipes out. This one looks great!
Y’all are too stinkin’ cute!! I love it! Have a wonderful Friday Tina!
Wow! 93 burpees, that is incredible! Great job Tina!!
Those cookies look so amazing and doughy!
Yall’s shirts are adorable š
I’m not signed up for the open but I randomly did my own 7 minute burpee challenge before even finding out it was the WOD- weird! Awesome job with that, you killed it!
you and mal are too cute – love the homemade shirts! strong work on the burpees woman! you’re AWESOME!
Those cookies look like perfection!
Cute shirts! I actually really do like burpees a lot, but I don’t know if I could that many in a row- your hard core!
does only your first attempt at burpees count for round 1 or can you continue to do them and keep trying to beat your score.
i see the leader has 158 so far. that’s insane.
@rob fiasco: You can try as many times as you like, but you need to submit your score by the deadline, which is Sunday evening. I’m definitely giving it another try!
Love the t-shirts! š
Wow, I was impressed with myself for doing 15 burpees consecutively. 93 is awesome! I am doing Tough Mudder (10-12 mile / 26 obstacle event) in May and burpees are on their training circuit.
How do you bake your sweet potato wedges? I can never seem to cook mine long enough to get them into good “fry” status.
@Anna, fitscally responsible: I might be doing the Tough Mudder in May too. I’m still undecided (and scared). As for the sweet potato wedges, I cook them for 40-45 minutes at 400*F. I usually toss them around the 20-minute and 30-minute marks.
@Tina: @Anna, fitscally responsible: We had burpees at our last TM training session too. Tina you should do it!! We can all die in the Tough Mudder together š
amazing burpee performance, lady!! you will definitely hit 100 on sunday š and those cookies look delish.
Haha. My husband totally asks sweetly for unhealthy things too. Too cute. And I love your burpee shirts!!
have you had the laughing cow blue cheese? oh my oh my oh my.
@Cat @ Breakfast to Bed: Yes! I love that one!!
Way to crush the burpees!! I was wondering, what’s your time for the baseline workout?
@Amanda: What’s the baseline workout?
@Tina: 500m row, 40 squats, 30 sit ups, 20 push ups, 10 pull ups for time. It was the first workout I did at my box during my intro meeting. We just did the workout again last night and I improved my time by two minutes!! So pumped!! I thought it was a standard workout at all boxes, but maybe not?
@Amanda: I dunno. I’ve never done it before!
A GOOD cookie is always worth the treat! Plus, if you make them bite sized then you get a tiny treat and you’re done. š Keep the 80/20 rule and it’s all good!
Have a happy COOKIE Friday š .
Y’all are burpee beasts! I’m completing this WOD today and my goal was 50! Y’all are going to do awesome in the opens.
That looks like a good recipe, though I’ve just discovered I’m lactose intolerant! Grrr. Haha
i just pinned your cookie recipe! can’t wait to try it š
Wow way to kick @$$ at those reps!
Hahaha that note on the chalkboard is exactly how I feel about burpees! š
Way to go on 93 burpees! Sometimes I do 15 burpees and 1 air squat;14 burpees, 2 air squats and so on and so forth until you get to 1 burpee, 15 air squats. It’s killer! (That 120 burpees & 120 air squats total!). It usually takes me over 20 minutes!
both total number of burpees is impressive. I’m exhausted just thinking of reaching 25 of them in a row š
Oh yes burpees! Do you do the pushup or just up and down with a jump?
when did squat thrusts become burpees? btw, i hate them too! whenever i see my trainer – i say, “no burpees!!!!”
Nice work on the burpees! I did my first attempt this morning and did pretty well considering I’ve been injured. One of the guys walked in and said “I’m ready to make some poor burpee my bitch.”
I took tons of pics too. We used rings as the target, so people wear putting X’s where their face should go when on the ground (well, where it should hover above… not actually hit). Then they wrote notes to themselves. Loved it š
I love that laughing cow mac and cheese! I used to live in Madagascar, and laughing cow (or as we called it there – la vache qui rit) was the only type of cheese I could get in my small village. I used to put it over pasta all the time to make my own version of mac and cheese! Oh the memories!
Hahah I love the homemade shirts! And…Mal is a burpee machine!! Good for him!! Hahah.
hahaha, love that sign!! Love the cookies, too.
Holy crap – 93???? I’m so impressed! I made it through 73 this morning. My hubby and I were each other’s counters…and miscommunicated on his set, so he only made it officially to 97. I think he’s gonna try again tomorrow…I sent him your post and said I wished I were a crafty wife so we could have cool tee like you and Mal!!!
Nice work, and thanks for inspiring me to register for the open!