New recipe and continuing back pain

General Tso's Chicken (almost) from Now Eat This by Rocco DiSpirito

I am in love with the concept of Now Eat This the (newish) Rocco DiSpirito cookbook where he takes traditionally bad for you comfort food recipes (like mac & cheese, hot wings, jalapeno poppers) and turns them into healthy versions.

I am constantly taking my favorite recipes and trying to make them "healthy." Seriously, ask my roommate because she is usually my guinea pig - and sometimes things don't turn out so well.

One of my 101 in 1001 items was to make 20 recipes from this cookbook. Tonight marks recipe #3 and it turned out mighty tasty. The only thing is that instead of dealing with making the tangy Asian sauce, I bought Trader Joe's version of General Tso's sauce. It was a bit higher in calories and sugar than Rocco's recipe, but I'm all about ease in the kitchen.

The important part was that the chicken turned out crispy. I served the chicken and broccoli over brown rice for a completely Asian inspired meal.

As I mentioned this was my 3rd recipe from Now Eat This. I've made the jalapeno poppers (two thumbs up!) and the mac and cheese, which did not turn out very well, but I think I substituted a few too many items. I will attempt that one again.

Back Pain

I've been resting resting resting this week.

My back is continuing to give me problems. Primarily in the mornings when I wake up and it's really stiff. I try to do a few stretches in the morning, but it's mainly painful to stand or walk so getting ready in the morning is quite a challenge.

Yesterday, I actually moved a stool from the kitchen to my bathroom so I could sit while I did my hair and makeup. I felt so....pathetic.

At this point, running is on hold. I haven't completed a Couch to 5K run since last Sunday. I'm still going to sign up for the Oktoberfest 5K, but I may just have to walk it. I did go to water aerobics this week because in the past I've found it to do well for my back. The class on Friday was really good. It was with the instructor that I like and a small group, so I was able to go slow, steady and focus on stretching out my back.

I have a doctor appointment on Monday morning. I kept putting off going to the doctor thinking it would just go away. I've dealt with lower back paint, attributed to my weight, for most of my adult life. Three years ago I suffered terrible spasms while I was driving and ended up in the ER. The things I've found that help are heating pad, lots of Advil and Icy Hot pads/gel.

The advice I received from Danny with Run University was to moisten a wet towel and heat it up in the microwave as hot as I could stand about 30 minutes before bed. I tried this a couple times and I honestly just found that the towel would lose it's "heat" too quickly. I was spending more time running back and forth between my room and the microwave than I could keep it on my back. It did feel good when it was hot and one my back, so I don't discount his advice, I just find the heating pad to be more convenient.