And these biscuits:
While neither you or I can have the girl for the next couple of months, we can sure as hell have the biscuits.
Well... I mean... let me level with you. You can have the biscuits.
I'm going to tendril for a minute here... if you just want the biscuit recipe, then feel free to scroll. I'll still love you.
Today marks the last day of my 5 week long (yes, I extended it... albeit accidentally) first phase of P90x. This morning I did Yoga X and though Tony begged me to clear my mind throughout the 90 minute exercise, I (no one is surprised) did not.
I thought about my students, my messy apartment, the brunch I knew was coming. I thought about the United States Postal Service and the five day work week. I thought about whether I'm by nature a cat or dog person. I thought about whether I'm a pet person at all.
But... then... I also thought about some things that some people might consider relevant. For instance, this whole P90x experience has introduced me to results in a way that no other exercise program or routine has. I am continually surprised by my own progress. Each time I do military pushups, I can do a couple more than I did the last time. Each time I do shoulder flys, I up the weight or the reps. Many times when Tony congratulates us for finishing the "hard part" of the workout, I think "Oh... really...? I didn't think we'd been going an hour yet..." I can see muscle development. I can feel myself getting stronger. Today when doing yoga, I was actually able to do the straight arm shoulder stands and alllllmost tackled the half moon. Almost.
But.
There's always a but.
The other thing that I kept thinking about while doing yoga today was my stomach. I mean... it's hard not to think about. What with all the bending and twisting and downward dogging.
My stomach is my least favorite body part. It's not flat. It's nowhere close to flat. And I'm afraid I might have ruined it by the years I spent dancing around a size 18. It may just be beyond that spring back point.
The thing is, though, I won't know if I don't try everything I can right now. At this moment, I am literally in the best shape of my life. I'm working out daily and I'm happily playing along with something called "Ab Ripper X" three times a week. If there were ever a time for me to flatten and tighten my stomach, this would be it.
Here comes the hard part... There is one aspect of the P90x program that I've been neglecting... The Diet. The P90x Nutrition Plan.
I capitalized it because it's that big of a deal. For me, at least.
I don't do diets. At least not seriously. I play with them. I try them on for size. And... then I drop them after a few days. But... I kinda want to see what would happen if I tackled this P90x diet and stuck to it.
It's only 60 days, right?
And who knows... the diet may just be the last piece of my flabby-to-flattened stomach puzzle. I don't know. What I do know... is that buttermilk biscuits are nowhere near the P90x diet.
Which is why I threw out the remaining two biscuits this morning.
Sigh.
Anyway... who wants biscuits with sausage gravy?? : )
April and I used the Perfect Buttermilk Biscuits recipe from Phe.Mom.Enon and Paula Deen's recipe for Sausage Gravy.
Yeah. When we do it, we do it right.
As we were making our shopping list, April let me know that under no circumstances would we me using my "nasty milk" for either of these recipes. And since Little Bit was shipping off to boot camp, I wasn't going to get into the all too common house debate over the merits of skim versus whole milk. So... we came home with Whole Milk and Buttermilk. The situation was intense... but the rewards were great.
We ate on those biscuits and that vat of gravy for days and STILL had leftovers to pitch.
My recommendation: Make these and make them now. But perhaps scale down the recipes a touch.
And now, if you'll excuse me, I need to figure out what crazy people with flat stomachs eat. Besides the protein sludge. Because I still don't want to go there.
10 comments:
These biscuits look UH-mazing. Go girl.
I hate diets too. That's why when I decided to start eating healthier, I took the French Women Don't Get Fat method. Ever read that book? Me neither. : ) But, I did see a segment about it on the Today show forever ago, and finally adopted the method they hypothetically use this year: love food, respect it enough to not alter it's form (don't add too much fat, fry it, etc.) and respect yourself enough to keep the portions small (so you don't tire of good food). It sounds stupid, but seriously ... best advice ever. I stopped frying everything, & started steaming and baking to keep the natural flavor. Then, I always left two or three bites on my plate. It rocks (and it's easier). The other thing they suggest is to eat something sweet every once in a while. Don't ignore cravings ... that will just cause a horrid trip-to-the-fridge-in-the-middle-of-the-night binge.
Wow. That was a long comment. So, I'll just go for broke and shoot for writing the longest comment ever on your blog.
I've also been cooking from eatingwell.com They've got GREAT recipes that are low calorie (like maple-glazed pork chops that are killa). Plus, they've also got a menu planner (the ocd in me LOVES this).
K. I think I'm done now.
I think.
Yes.
I'm done.
Kisses.
Good luck, JoJo! You're an inspiration.
Alicia... you and I might be one person in two different bodies. I too have watched a morning show segment with the author of that book and I loved it! I used to be good at that method... but... I must have gotten distracted. Well-timed reminder.
Also... eatingwell.com... awesome. Checking it out now.
Cindy: thanks... I'm going to think about that the next time I'm struggling. Which will be... ya know... the next time I "press play." :)
I gotta go with cookingnerd on this one: the whole "eating right" thing is really more a lifestyle than a diet. And yes, the French method of preparing and savoring foods is brilliant, as is cutting out overly processed foods. So y'know, go for whole grain as much as you can. Use whole wheat flour instead of white. Use organic (or even organic raw) cane sugar over white sugar. And yep, just like cookingnerd said... indulge yourself once in a while! Nothin' wrong with it.
And, as someone who still IS dancing around a size 18 (well okay, probably 16/18 now), I just have to say: YOU GO GIRL!
I'm going to agree with the rest of the girls - it's all about portion control and making good choices in cooking. But HELL if those biscuits and gravy don't look AMAZING.
Aw, April. She looks good in your kitchen, and I'm SURE she's missing you as much as you're missing her. And guess what? I miss you both. But I have an Orion on my shins who is reminding me of happy times with my favorite southern girls.
xo
I think you're secretly a dog person and I have facts to back it up.
In other news, I'm really proud of you and so incredibly inspired by what you're doing that I am now the newest person to make Tony Horton a little bit richer! I just purchased the whole sha-bang- workout discs, straps, and pull up bar. Bring it Tony and the girl with the annoyingly high pony tail!
wow I am thoroughly impressed. I should probably consider following in your foot steps but I am so lazy. i can't imagine being excited to work out.
On a side note, I question the ability to have a flat stomach. Even when I was young and skinny (5'4", 85 lbs, at that point in my life I was swimming 2-3 hours a day, 6 days a week, and hadn't gotten into food yet so i actually ate a relatively balanced and not excessive amount of food diet) I didn't have a flat stomach so I don't think that's gonna happen, at least not for me. I know, not a very inspiring thought, so sorry to be a Debbie Downer.
Amber: See... this is why I'm moving to the diet. I already make those substitutions and eat healthy when April isn't asking me to make her indulgent, Southern, "last meals". :) The diet will just give me even more structure? Maybe? For a minute? hahaha... who knows!
Notjustafemme: Sigh. I should have added you and Orion to my list of misses! : ) But something about talking to you every day helps.
Laura: Yay! I can't wait to hear all about your X-ing! Wanna guest post about it? : D
Me!: I would expect nothing less from you. You are welcome to be my Debbie Downer anytime. And... holy cow... 5'4" and 85 lbs? How did you stand? Much less swim?!
Yes, I would love to guest post! I'll let you know when I come up with something equally as witty and entertaining as what all your faithful blog followers are used to. Thanks for the offer!
That was also before I grew boobs too so that's not really something to aspire to. Consider yourself an inspiration. I ran a mile today. That's about as close to p90x as i can handle. As I sit here eating Haagen Daaz Dulche de Leche ice cream lol at least I did the mile first
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