Lifting and ice cream…

Welp. Still sore. Most of my soreness is in the stabilizing groinular muscles that get hit hard by squats but not by running in a straight line. So I rationalized another session of lifting by saying, I won’t do squats! I did 2 sets of 10 of bench at 95lb, biceps at 20lb, skullcrushers with a 35lb plate, then one set each of rows at 65lb and OHP at 45lb. And once I got to the end of all that… I was feeling squats. But I did the 2 sets with just the bar– pretty much just enough to move and stretch it out. So maybe that was a balanced workout that won’t leave me even sore-er.

I figure I have a relatively sane outlook on my workouts– I try not to be obsessive, and listen to my body and take a rest day when needed. It’s hard when I don’t have a plan but I have a really vague, rather appearance-based goal in mind (‘look a bit buff at party’). But let’s face it, I’m not going to look like this babely person, especially not in a week! It’s a pretty silly idea; my body’s going to look like it usually looks.

Besides, there’s homemade ice cream in the freezer to eat up. (Last night I showed my partner those pictures, said "But I bet she doesn’t eat ice cream…" She might, I don’t know!) My latest experiment turned out really well– apple cinnamon oatmeal ice cream!– here’s a recipe. (Next experiment might be black pepper-rosewater. Hmm…)

1 batch Jeni’s Ice Cream Base (amazing eggless custard!)
5 medium apples (I used 3 empires and 2 braeburns)
Scant 1/2 cup sugar
Spices to taste (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, cardamom)
2 tsp citric acid or lemon juice (important to offset sweetness and bring out apple flavor)
1 cup rolled oats (not quick)

Prepare the ice cream base according to the recipe; chill.

Make applesauce: Peel and chop apples. (The empires will cook down into sauce, but the braeburns will keep their shape. Use a mix of crunchy and soft apples.) Simmer in large heavy pot; add sugar, spices and citric acid. Cook over medium heat to a nice saucey texture with some chunks remaining. Chill.

Toast oatmeal in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until it’s nice and toasty-oat smelling. Chill.

When everything’s nice and cold, process according to ice cream maker instructions. Freeze the base first; when it’s about halfway-3/4 way done, add the applesauce a bit at a time. When the ice cream is just about frozen, add in the oats and process until done. Transfer to freezer-safe container and freeze to final cure.