starbucks+treadmill=go go gadget legs

for whatever reason, tonight after dinner, i begged jason to pull into the starbucks that is right in front of our hotel. i just had a hankering for an iced coffee. black. 

walking back into the hotel, i remembered that i actually brought my workout clothes and tennis shoes this time around and went on a mission to find the exercise room. lights were off, towels fresh, everything sparkled.

two treadmills. one bike. one scale. one tv. one rack of towels. one wall of mirrors. two people hopped up on caffeine. 

the treadmill was great fun. i was trying to regulate my breathing, almost going into meditation mode, focusing on keeping my heart rate down. then it dawned on me that i pretty much just slammed a coffee and jumped on the treadmill. whoops! probably not the best exercise regime, but working out was kind of an afterthought. hey, at least i did it. and so did jason!

he said, you want me to smile, while working out? i said yes! of course i do! we need to change our attitudes, buddy! so, same place and time tomorrow? you bring the waters, i’ll bring the pep talk.

onto my food treasure hunt, mentioned yesterday. i ended up having a hefty workload today, so didn’t get to go to castleton/indy yet. barring any graphic design emergencies, i should be able to make it down there tomorrow. i have it all mapped out, and am so psyched. it is supposed to be beautiful tomorrow, the convertible and ipod await!

so, sorry for the teaser about the food report. and apologies once again for this being a traveling week. the good news is, we have a fridge in the room this time, so i brought a veggie tray for my late night cravings.

i’ve been trying to post a recipe every day, and in my excitement, totally forgot to do this yesterday. allison sent me a great looking meal idea which i will post tomorrow. today’s recipe is for my famous low fat mexicali dip. and the trick is, don’t tell anyone it’s lowfat, because you can’t even taste anything missing!

 

jessica’s famous mexicali dip

 

• 16 oz fat free sour cream
• 1 block cream cheese (1/3 less fat is ok, fat free is not good with this recipe)
• 1 jar salsa (i always use pace picante sauce medium. i’d stick to a traditional style salsa anyway)
• 2 cups shredded cheddar or monterrey jack or pepper jack cheese (low fat cheese works great with this recipe. it’s more for the texture than the flavor, so use whatever you want)
• 1 can whole black olives, drained
• 1/2 cup taco seasoning

 

allow cream cheese to warm to room temp, or soften (very carefully and very lightly) in the microwave. combine cream cheese and sour cream in food processor and blend well. add remaining ingredients in the order listed, one at a time, mixing in between. the end result will be a pink colored dip. the beauty of running it all through the food processor is that, since it is not chunky, you can dip a chip in and get all the flavors on your chip. it’s a huge hit at parties. also tastes great on tacos.

since i invented this recipe basically by doing a fridge/cupboard sweep, it makes a *ton* of dip. but, it lasts pretty well in the fridge, and also will go quicker than you think. and, fair warning: if your food processor is on the smallish side, be very careful! mine is average size, and it’s full to the brim!