Weekly Finds: 8/18/13

Bread:

Crock-Pot Brioche

This is pretty crazy - a buttery eggy pillowy brioche, made right in your crock pot! You do your normal rises, then you bake for 4-5 hours on low, or 2-2 1/2 hours on high. It's not long enough to do while at work or while sleeping, but it's perfect if you have to go out and run some errands.

Dinner:

Corn "Farroto"

Here, farro is used in place if the typical arborio rice to make risotto. Corn is pureed with vegetable stock to add creaminess, and also added whole at the end. This is a summery and healthy take on risotto.

Zucchini Ricotta Gnocchi

I've seen many gnocchi recipes where the cooked potatoes are replaced with ricotta, to make a lighter take on the typical recipe. Here, zucchini is also added, giving a pretty speckled green look to the dish. To avoid the extra water that comes with zucchini, it is shredded and then squeezed of all extra liquid. 

Dessert:

Blueberry Pie Bars

These taste like blueberry pie, without all of the work of actually making a pie. A simple crust is made of flour, sugar and butter, and cooked. The filling is custard-y from the use of greek yogurt and eggs, and is bursting with fresh blueberries. It is topped with a crumb topping, and then baked until the crust is caramelized.

Cinnamon Peanut Butter Skillet Blondies

I'm always so impressed with skillet cookies. You're making something perfectly sweet in a kitchen tool I always associate with savory. Plus, they always achieve that perfect shiny crackly top, with a gooey center. These are a riff on the skillet cookie - being a blondie that is accentuated with cinnamon and peanut butter. All I can say is yes, yes, yes. 

Fitness:

How to Work Out When You Have a Cold Great tips for what is okay, and what is not recommended, when you're sick with a cold. Good to know, because I know that sometimes I will use a cold as an excuse to not work out.

Killer Cardio and Strength-Training Routine

"First, power your way through a cardio workout on a rowing machine, then tack on a muscle-building routine that will impress even the biggest guy in the weight room. They recommend for the rowing machine, to set the display to show the distance traveled. This way you can try to beat that next time. For the strength-training portion, you'll need a barbell, a TRX strap, and a pull-up machine.

Gym Tips for Newbies Want to try out a new gym (or a gym at all for the first time) but are a bit intimidated? Here are some really good tips, as well as good rules of etiquette, for first-time gym users.

Twisted BOSU Plank Some cool variations to add to your basic plank, to make it a bit more challenging. Also a good way to work the BOSU ball into your workout.

Wall Sits to Avoid Runner's Knee

30-Day Squat Challenge This printable challenge has you work your way up to 200 squats, giving you a rest every 4 days. To make it more interesting, you alternate between 5 different kinds of squats, which also helps work different muscle groups.

Cooking Tips:

10 Foods You Need in Your Diet

Here are 10 great foods to try to incorporate into your diet. How many of you can say that you already eat all of them??

Kitchen Helpers Here are several lists of really helpful kitchen conversions and substitutions. 

Favorite Fashion Staples:

This is my new favorite nail polish!